The Anime Manga Revolution
by Death101- Fox Version
Summary: I thought at university I'd learn about people and myself. Here at Hearth, the focus is on making you a robot and the only way to survive is to follow or rebel. My name is Mona and I am part of the rebellion. Totsugeki! List of included animes and comic books included inside. Rated PG-13 due to brief implications of unknowning drug use.
1. Anime Manga Addicts Unite

**A/N: I decided to take some time away from YYH to write this plot that came to me in a dream so don't expect to much and enjoy.**

**Explanation: This story is mostly anime based although there are references to DC and Marvel Comics later on. Especially in Chapter 9 so I'd suggest brushing up on basic anime and comic book knowledge.**

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you._

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**The Anime Revolution  
****Chapter 1**

_University. The final frontier for students before they go off into the workplace. The first time when they will be forced to go off on their own and try to survive for 9 months on what money they have saved. University. The place where a student can truly find themselves and likeminded people. University. The place of freedom to learn what you want to learn, to express one's self, and to live._

_My name is Mona F. Deaden, and I am a university freshman or the raw metal as we first years are referred to as here. I've been at Hearth University for about a month now, and am completely dreading it. The weird thing is that it's not the pace of the work that makes me want to die. It's the—_

"Hello raw metal."

_People._

Ceasing to write, I closed my notebook and stuffed it in my bag before looking up. Six days ago I would have expected to see a spoiled jerk that was only at the school because his or her parents had money and forced them. Today, I wasn't surprised to see a teacher looking down on me.

"Hello Mr. Favager," I replied as I watched him walk around the table separating us. I started to pack up the rest of my things.

His beady green eyes watched me as I struggled to keep my movements calm, smooth, and natural. "Going so soon, Ms. Deadhead?"

I had already tried four times to tell him how to pronounce my last name. This time I let it slide and slipped my bag over my shoulder. "I have a class starting in fifteen minutes, and it'll take me a while to get there."

He smiled as if he was my friend. "Alright then. Good luck in class."

I waved over my shoulder and disappeared down the hallway. The library had now been found by the enemy so he'd be watching if I returned. I bit down on my lower lip slightly, and I thought about what other places I could use as a hiding spot from the many teachers and my fellow students. Noticing a staircase leading upwards, I decided to see if I could find a way to the roof. In anime and manga, roofs had proved to be a good place to hide from people and life. My high school had been a single floor so I wasn't able to test that theory, but I could try here. Three stories wasn't that high… was it?

After a few twists and turns I found my self in front of a door marked, "Roof access." After looking over my shoulder twice, I opened the door and ducked through it. The roof was nothing like in anime or manga but it would do. It was flat, had vents to hide behind, and easy access. I didn't care that it didn't have railings, but I was careful to stay away from the edge. I sat down beside the door and took my notebook out again. Reading over what I had written I added,

_Now normally I get along everyone including teachers. It helps to have some allies in life and smart to be on the right side of teachers. I mean they can change your marks in a heartbeat if they don't like you (and believe me, here they do) but all the teachers at Hearth just rub me the wrong way._ _Hearth University has more money than most of the other universities and is able to hire big shot professionals from each field taught at the school. At the end of 4 years the students are supposed to be just as good in their fields as the teachers, if not better. That was why I had chosen to go to the school in the first place. However, this also means most of the teachers are smug, stuck-up pains._

_Mr. Favager, however, is the worst. I don't mean that he is the smuggest, or most stuck-up. In fact, he's perfectly nice and understanding if a student has trouble. Just like Mr. Kiefer at my high school. However, I can't help but distrust the guy. Maybe it's the way he speaks or the way he wears black suits to every class like someone had died that ticks me off so much. However, I'm the only one of my fellow freshmen who has a problem with him. All of the rest of them virtually worship the ground he walks on… Come to think about it, they did that to all the teachers. If they told them to jump off the roof, they probably would._

I looked at my watch and quickly packed my stuff into my bag. My afternoon classes were about to begin, and the last thing I wanted was to be late. If I was going to make it through university with at least half my sanity intact, I needed to keep myself on my teachers' good side. That meant getting all my work done, showing up to class on time, and getting good marks. Unfortunately, that cut into keeping my insanity in check. With all my studying, my writing time had shrunk to what I got done while hiding between classes. My pleasure reading and watching of cartoons had also shrunk but that was the price I paid. Once I was out of first year I was sure that I would have a bit more time to myself, and hopefully the freedom to wear what I wanted.

I glared at anyone who gave me a funny look as I tugged on the collar of my white, lacy blouse. The grey skirt was a lost cause so I didn't even bother to try to pull it lower, but I couldn't wait for the winter when I would be allowed to wear my longer black one. Since Hearth was basically a business school the choice of uniform made sense. What didn't was why we had to wear one, especially since we as students were supposed to be finishing up the progress of finding ourselves.

I entered my classroom and dodged the many briefcases that were laid out hazardously on the tables. Unlike many of my fellow freshmen, I had given the briefcase back to the school and instead kept using my shoulder bag. It didn't look as professional, but it was lighter and easier to carry. Of course, it also made me stand out, something I didn't really want but I'd live.

No one else was in the room yet since most of them hadn't gotten rid of our high school habit of dropping our books off before walking around the school one last time. Happy to be alone, I sank into my chair in the front but way off to the side and pulled out my manga for the day. Yu Yu Hakusho Volume 3. My own personal comfort blanket. I was just at the part where Yusuke's spirit gun just missed Hiei when the book was suddenly ripped out of my hands.

In all my time of reading my books in class and before class, no one had ever taken my book away without asking first. For a few seconds, I blinked as my mind tried to figure out what had just happened. When I finally looked up, I saw my surprisingly blond haired, brown eyed Japanese Language 101 teacher looking down on me with a frown.

"Deaden-chan, did you hear a word I just said?" she asked as she held my beloved manga.

Caught off guard, I shook my head. "Sorry, I sorta zone out when I read. I didn't realize class had started."

She shook her head and started to walk back to her desk with my manga. "To be sure that doesn't happen again, I'm taking your book away until the end of class."

For half a second, I considered saying no but that would be stupid. I nodded and tried to ignore the looks of the other 100 people in the classroom. "Yes, Fujimoto-sensei."

For the rest of the class I tried to listen and answer the questions directed to me even though half my mind was stuck on my missing manga. I got virtually all the questions wrong but I wasn't very surprised. Languages were not my strong suit, and the fact was, as much of an anime addict I was, I did not understand Japanese. My mental dictionary was limited to Hello (konnichiwa), good morning (ohayou gozaimasu), idiot (baka), yes (hai), no (lie), thank you (arigato), thank you very much (arigato gozaimasu), What? (nani?), what do you want? or stronger what? (nandayo), darkness (yami), light (hikaru or hikari), sorry (gomen), I'm sorry (gomen nasai), hot guy (bishonen), good bye forever (sayonara), later (ja ne). You know. Anime-addict Japanese. That was all I knew and all of it was verbal. I couldn't read Japanese even though I had a manga of D. Gray-man right from Japan. So why was I taking the class? Because I'm an anime addict and I wanted to learn to read Japanese so I could understand my D. Gray-man manga. Sad. I know.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only struggling Japanese language-impaired person. Three rows behind me and to the right was another obvious addict unless the Saiyuki pin on her briefcase was just something a friend had given her and she thought was cool. However, she also knew a few words that I would rather not repeat. The first time she had said one in class the teacher almost had a heart attack. It was funny until the class had to do a report on the importance of good and proper language skills.

Eventually the class was over and I was given my manga back as well as advice to stop watching and reading the 'junk' because it had nothing to do with real Japanese. I nodded and promised to study harder, but I pretended not to hear the comment about ditching my addiction. As I stated before, anime and manga were the only things keeping me insane, and I'd be damned if I gave them up.

I waited until I was out of the classroom before I sighed and made my way for the roof. I had half an hour before my next class and was in serious need of a manga fix. The door was unlocked just like the first time, and I quickly disappeared through it. Within seconds, I was floating through the wonderful world of Yu Yu Hakusho. In fact, I was so wrapped up in my manga that I failed to notice the presence beside me reading over my shoulder until a voice said, "It's a good manga, isn't it?"

My heart almost stopped as I looked up. Thankfully, he was standing or else my head probably would have hit his chin. He smiled down on me, and I realized that he was one of the upperclassmen. The evidence to support my theory were two things. First his brown hair was combed into the typical upperclassmen virtually business owner style, although his nice blue eyes didn't match the look. And second, his suit was a dark blue, instead of the gray of the freshmen. Of course, I couldn't remember what year blue was.

While my mind tried to figure out what he was doing on the roof, I nodded. "You've read it?"

He nodded. "A while ago. Probably why I am doing so well in school right now. Kurama was a good role model."

I smiled as I started to pack up. Class started in ten minutes but I had little time to talk. My classroom was close by. "The Shuichi part at least."

He grinned. "Yes, I suppose having Yoko as a role model would not be a wise route to take right now." He picked up a pen that I had dropped and passed it back to me. I thanked him and asked him what other animes he was into. He named a few that I recognized, and we talked about them for a bit. Back home, I had one friend who I used to talk with about animes, but in my second last year of high school we drifted apart not only in taste of animes but just in general. She was also a year behind me and was fairly popular with people her age so I just sorta hid in the background when they showed up. Eventually, I just disappeared.

Talking with the upperclassman was fun since I didn't really have anyone to talk to anymore. My cats didn't speak English, and my fellow freshmen were too busy working to stay in the university or partying (something I never did) to really meet me, the person who hid in places where no one came.

When I looked at my watch, I had only a few minutes to get to class. I wasn't worried but I didn't want to tempt fate after my run in Mr. Favager and Mrs. Fujimoto. I said good bye to the guy, and he nodded.

"Before you go," he said as I opened the door, "there is a club in Room 444 that you might enjoy. If you have time, you should drop by there. I heard they are looking for new members."

I frowned but wrote down the number on my palm. "Is it like the Host Club or something?"

He smiled and shook his head. "Not exactly but I do think you would enjoy it."

Before I could ask anymore questions, he disappeared through the door leaving me wondering how he got by me since I was right in the doorway. "Must be a ninja," I muttered under my breath as I hurried to my next class. However, this time I kept my manga out of sight.

As the teacher went on about math, I wrote notes, but I was mostly thinking about the club that the upperclassman had been talking about. I had been on Student Council once in all my years of high school, and we had been nothing but a name. That was my only experience with clubs so I wasn't sure what to expect or if I should even go to room 444. I was curious but I also had a lot of work on my plate. Did I have the time to join a club?

As the teacher continued to go on and slowly brainwash his students, I decided that I might as well check it out. After all, if I didn't have time, or didn't like it I could always leave.

*A*M*R*

I found Room 444 in one of the older buildings and had to dodge a couple of upperclassmen on my way there. The door looked just like any other door in the school. Old. Only this door had seen better days. The half circle window above the door was covered in dust, and if I was tall enough to look through the window, I wouldn't be able make out anything through the many levels of dirt. The wood on the door was old and cracked in some places. Only the doorknob and brass numbers marking the door as 444 showed any signs of care since they was a shining brass that reflected me and my hand as I reached for the knob. I was about to turn it when I was suddenly struck by the need to knock. Never in all my years of schooling had I ever knocked on a door in a school, but we were taught that if the door was closed, knock. So I did.

A huge crash followed, and I took a step away from the door. My first thought was that I had broken the door somehow. Heart beating irately, I scanned the door for signs of damage. Nothing. So the crash came from inside the door. What were they doing in that club that would cause so much noise with one slip? I wondered.

Hesitantly, I stepped towards the door and knocked again with one eye closed and ready for another crash. Instead of a crash, the door opened to reveal a boy with messy brown hair and odd glasses as well as a hoop-la-hoop hanging from his neck. Since I wore glasses, I felt I was familiar with most of the frames and lenses available, but I had never see glasses whose lenses were opaque with a spiral design on them. I thought the style only appeared in anime and manga.

Since the boy was staring at me, I attempted to smile and said, "An upperclassman told me there was a club that I should check out in this room. This is the right room, right?" I knew it was but the innocent, 'I'm a lost freshman, please help me' act had never let me down before. Unless the guy or girl I was asking was a complete jerk who would send me in the wrong direction anyways.

The boy's glasses slipped down his nose to reveal blue eyes, and he kept staring as a grin appeared on his face. I almost wish I had a briefcase to hide behind because the staring was really starting to creep me out.

I was about to apologize and run off when the boy suddenly looked over his shoulder and shouted into the room, "Check it! He did it!"

A grunt came from inside the room, and the boy turned back to me after pushing his glasses back in front of his eyes. "You'll have to excuse my rude welcoming. Sometimes upperclassmen send freshmen down here as a welcoming test. But you've obviously an anime addict."

"Thanks…?" I said as he moved from the doorway to allow me to enter the room. I had never thought of myself as an obvious anime addict. I didn't have anything on me that was from an anime or manga except for my manga that was hidden in my bag, but I guess we addicts can recognize fellow addicts.

Once inside the room, I took a look around, trying to figure out what sort of club I had just walked into. A small one was my guess judging by how small the room was. I doubted if it could fit 20 people in the room with high school desks. Of course the left hand half the room was covered by stacked chairs and desks as well what appeared to be a cabinet with drawers from which clothes were spilling out. Between the stacked desk were piles of objects. I thought I saw a few fake swords as well as other stage equipment. The window on that side was just as fifthly as the above the door, but you couldn't get close to it because of all the stacked desks and chairs.

In the middle of the room were three desks so I guessed that there were three members to the club. The desk that was closest to the left side was covered in anime related objects such as books, movies, action figures and other collectables. I felt I was right to assume that the crash I had heard was from those objects falling over onto the desk, and that the glasses guy had been sitting there since he still had the hoop-la-hoop around his neck. I then turned my attention to the other desks. One was right in the middle of the open area in the room and had nothing on it. The last desk was closer to the right side and was being occupied by someone I didn't know.

My attention continued to study the right side of the room. There was a window on this side too, and it was amazingly clean considering the rest of the room. It looked out onto the track field and was located behind the guy at the desk. On the wall hanged a small white board with the words, "Anime/Manga Addicts Unite," written on it and surrounded by poorly drawn anime characters. Not that I could draw well. And finally, I noticed a small curtained area in the right corner closest to the door.

Since nothing had been said to me yet, I returned to look at the other guy in the room. He was sitting at his desk and reading a book. I was pretty sure that he was an upperclassman although he was wearing a blue Japanese school uniform. He had brown hair and blue eyes and looked very familiar, but before I could put my finger on why, the glasses guy tossed some pink clothing at me.

"Try it on. We might need to helm it but it should fit." He was digging through the many piles so he missed my jaw dropping and eyes widening. Was I supposed to put the clothing over my clothes or did he seriously expect me to strip down? I looked over at the other guy for some guidance but he was still reading his book. At least, I think he was. The cover was blocking his face from my view. Then I got hit in the face with a blue wig.

As I removed the wig from my face I saw that the glasses guy was motioning to a curtained area in the right hand corner. "You can change in there."

I looked between him and the other guy just to be sure that they were serious. Book boy just kept reading so again, he was no help, and spiral glasses just kept looking at me. They were serious. Trying to buy time to think of an excuse, I looked down at the clothing and wig and found my thoughts derailed. Pink. Who wore Pink? Botan. But she wore a pink kimono. My face must have shown my worry because the guy with the book looked up and said, "Does she even know how to put on a kimono?"

My face said it all. No. I did not. Didn't know how to tie the ori thing— or was it obi— or get the material to sit right.

Of course spiral glasses had the idea to offer help, which I quickly turned down. I'd figure it out, I said as I walked into the curtained room. After all, I was a girl. It couldn't be that hard to figure out… right? If I had a cell phone I could have just googled it, but I didn't have one, something I was quickly regretting. For a few seconds, I stood there and looked at the clothing, wishing that I had some experience cosplaying.

From behind the curtain the voices of the boys were heard. One of them shouted at me that I would have to strip right down in order to get the kimono on and how they didn't have all day. I bet it was book boy. However, I didn't have any choice so I stripped down. Then I slipped the kimono and discovered it had two layers. I stripped it off again and slipped on the white layer before grabbing the sleeves and put on the pink part. Then came tying the obi thing. I was not stupid enough to try so I made sure that I was fully covered before stepping out and holding out the white and red material.

"Can one of you two tie this for me?"

The look that the book reading guy sent me almost made me want to crawl into a little hole and hide. Thankfully glasses came to my rescue and pulled the material around my waist before starting to tie it behind my back. While he tied it, I tried to avoid looking at book boy. I had thought that only Hiei, Kurama, Fluffy, and Kaiba had that scary a glare but those glares would have been far scarier in real life during a cosplay. Suddenly I recognized who book boy was and almost kicked myself.

"You're Kaiba!" I said as I pointed at him.

He gave me another glare and nodded. "Looks like you picked the right costume, Umino. She's as much an airhead as the original."

If he couldn't have made my life difficult with his upperclassman rank, I would have attempted to reply with something witty. Instead I glared at him and then spoke Umino. "What anime are you from?"

He pulled the obi a bit too tight and caused me to gasp before he loosened it and finished. "Sailor Moon. You probably know me by my English name Melvin McCellbellum."

I nodded. I vaguely recalled such a character, but I thought that his name was Martin. "So this club is all about cosplaying?" I asked as he helped me slip on the wig.

"More like self-expression." He took a step back to admire his work. "What do you think, Kaiba?"

Kaiba had sat back down and went back his book so he didn't reply. If he had, it probably would have been another insult. I couldn't tell if he was naturally that way or if he was just playing the part. In any case, I wasn't too interested in hearing him talk again.

Before Umino could ask Kaiba again, I spoke again. "How is dressing up as someone else and acting like them self-expression?"

Umino turned to me with a grin on his face. "Well you see, we only cosplay as characters who act like ourselves. Although I disagree with Kaiba now that I'm able to see more of your base personality. You're more of a Kagome."

"Who is also an airhead," Kaiba added.

Again, I was tempted to throw something at him.

"Or a Sakura. She'd make a good little sister for your Touya."

Kaiba shrugged. "As long as we don't make her an Anzu I'm happy."

Umino nodded. "At least Ashley's costumes fit you so well."

I paused in my glaring at Kaiba to blink at Umino. "Ashley?"

He nodded. "One of the co-founders of this club but she went to the dark side."

I blinked again and waited. I had seen enough animes to know when to pause and wait. However, I didn't expect Kaiba to be the story teller. He looked out the window and said, "Ashley Smith first came to Hearth University five years ago. She decided to start an anime/manga club. The university at first refused to grant her a room in the school. However, she gained support from other students and the Japanese teacher at the time who recognized that anime and manga helped students learn the language. The university gave her this room. For the first two years they had a great time. There were skits, plays, games, and trading.

"We joined just a year ago, and the skits were lame, games broken, and trading reduced to throwing objects in piles and leaving them. The main reason was because Ashley had left. The teachers offered her a Student Council job and she took it. At first she would still help, but the more she worked for the council the more robotic and business minded she became. The club wasn't fun anymore so people left and the club declined." He glanced over at me. "We are the final members."

For a second, he actually looked cool and I was not normally a Kaiba fan.

"That wasn't very Kaiba like." Umino's voice started me and caused me to jump a bit which caused Kaiba to smirk. "It seemed more like Future Trunks," he continued. "Maybe you should switch costumes."

Kaiba shrugged and went back to his book. "Andrew isn't here yet so I don't have to be completely in character, Umino."

Umino shook his head. "According to Anime Addicts Code, subsection Cosplay, it states that a person must be in character from the moment that they enter Anime Addicts HQ to the moment when they leave."

Kaiba was about to reply when the door opened and a white haired man in a blue uniform identical to Kaiba's entered. The third member of the club had arrived. He nodded at Kaiba before turning to Umino.

"Sorry I'm late," he said. "For some reason, I blacked out and found myself on the other side of the building."

Umino grinned and pointed at the obvious Ryou Bakura cosplayer as he said to Kaiba, "See? Ryou knows the code!"

Kaiba just shrugged, and I struggled to think of a Botan thing to say. Four could play at this game. "Oh come on boys. Let's not fight. We have work to do." Somehow I managed to mimic her Funimation accent, but when I finished speaking all three were staring at me. Instantly I wished I had kept my mouth shut so I attempted a nervous laugh.

Bakura was the first to react and he smiled. "Botan is right. We have work to do."

Predictably, Kaiba glanced over in my direction as he asked, "And what work is that?"

I smiled. "Why cleaning up this room of course. If we get this place looking halfway presentable, not only will we have more room to work in but we'll all feel better too." It looked like cosplaying wasn't as hard as I thought. The voice was tough to keep, but I felt I was acting just like Botan.

Kaiba didn't agree as he grabbed Bakura's collar. "You brought us a Sophie, idiot."

Umino grinned at me and stepped between the two with his finger pointing at the ceiling. "Actually Howl's Moving Castle isn't really anime in the normal sense. It was based off of a book by the British author Diana Wynne Jones."

Bakura attempted a grin. "Very loosely though."

Kaiba let him go and then sat back down. "I don't do housework."

I wasn't sure how in character I was about to act, but I remembered seeing Botan discipline Yusuke so she would probably do the same to Kaiba. Also she wouldn't be afraid because he couldn't hurt her. I, on the other hand, was very breakable, but I was going to play my part even if he got me into major trouble. Somehow I found a broom in a few seconds and walked over to his desk with it in my hand. "Are you sure?"

He glared at me, and it took all I had not to back down. Just how much time did he spend in front of the mirror perfecting that? I wondered. Or was it natural talent? "I will not help you."

A Mona thought popped into my head, and I hoped that it wasn't too out of character. As I turned, I caught the chair with my broom and lifted. The result was Kaiba on the floor, and a deadly glare pointed my way.

"Are you going to help now?" I asked.

He stood up. Brushed himself off and turned to me. "Give me that damn broom."

I smiled and obeyed before moving over to help the other boys organize all the stuff they had collected over the years. Ryou was kind enough to help me tie my sleeves back and within seconds we were in business.

The first few objects we found were posters, which I posted on the walls around the white board. Now posters of the Yu-Gi-Oh gang from season 0, Astro Boy, the Inuyasha Gang, and some shojo anime none of us knew the name for surrounded the badly drawn anime figures. Then we un-stacked the desks and placed as many as we could along the walls to make a half circle without blocking the curtain area or having to move the cabinet. Since we had lots of desks left we started to restack them but we were careful to make them into shelves and leave the windows and posters clear. After I cleaned the windows, we placed the action figures and other collectables we placed in the window as well as on the shelves we made. We still had lots of desks and chairs left over though so the boys carried them over into 445, which was being used as a storage room and was half filled. Finally we were done and it only took a few hours and a couple of battles between Kaiba and me. (Surprisingly most of them were over my clothing. Since I wasn't used to wearing a kimono I didn't know how to stand so that it didn't open. Thankfully before any skin really showed, Kaiba would start yelling at me, claiming that I was trying to seduce him. I usually ignored him but always corrected my posture. After all, I wasn't the one with no shirt on.)

The Anime/Manga Addicts HQ finally looked like a club room again. As we sat resting, Ryou passed out drinks that he had gotten from a nearby venting machine. For a moment, we were silent. Then I looked at my watch and started to freak out. I ran into the curtain area and grabbed my clothes before rushing to the door. "You don't mind if I bring these back tomorrow do you?"

Ryou shook his head. "It's okay. We'll also have the rest of your costume choices out for you to pick from tomorrow as well."

"Who says we want her to come back?" Kaiba asked as he wiped his face with the back of his hand.

Ryou smiled. "We voted while you were harassing Botan."

"Then I didn't vote."

Umino adjusted his glasses and said, "Well no matter how you voted she would be still part of the club because Ryou and I are two votes and you are only one." He missed Kaiba's glare because he turned his attention to me. "Do you have contacts you can wear?"

I shook my head and subtly took a step towards the door. Botan wouldn't be rude and leave part way through a conversation and neither would I. "Out of my price range, and I usually poke myself in the eye."

Ryou smiled and nodded. "We'll help you out and you'd better get going."

I nodded and quickly disappeared out the door with a "Ja ne."

As I ran through campus, there was one thing I was sure of. Heart University may have had a record of making its students robotic and sane but with fellow anime addicts my insanity was safe for the moment and not even annoying Kaiba could make me quit. Because I was an anime/manga addict and we addicted needed to stick together.

* * *

**A/N: I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of anime rebellion. Since my area of expertise is shonen most of the animes will be shonen. I don't really have a clear plot but I have a beginning and ending and that's good enough. Thanks for reading and suggestions are always welcomed.**

**-d101**


	2. A Promise is a Promise

_Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you._

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 2**

_Promise. A bonding vow between two parties. It can be as simple as a promise to appear on time or as complex as a vow to give up fighting for a week. Promise. An item only as powerful as your honour and your word. An item you must keep dear and hold true to._

_My name is Mona F. Deaden, and when I make a promise I keep it even if it kills me or if I didn't really make the promise but the person I was cos-playing as did._

_I ended up going to the club yesterday and spent most of the evening cleaning the club room with the club members. It wasn't actually that bad and I had a great time, but I didn't get around to doing any of my homework. Tonight I'll have to make up for that night of fun, but I have to go back to the club first because as I rushed out, "Botan" promised to show up again. Of course today is the day when the teachers decide to assign more work. Now I have three projects due before the end of the month plus the homework I didn't do last night._

_The above is the reason why I held off joining the club and why I avoided clubs all through high school. I never knew how much work I would get and that made me nervous. The last thing I wanted was to promise one thing to the club and then have to back out because of my grades. However, Botan had gotten the better of me so now I have to go back to the club room to return the costume at least. Part of me really wants to stay in the club because I never have the chance to let my imagination go wild like that. Sadly, the other more mature part of me keeps telling me that you come to Hearth University to learn and to become a work-machine, not play. The teachers constantly rub this fact in your face whenever they can. Even in our free time they keep—_

"Deaden-chan?"

_Butting in._

I looked up from my sheet of paper I had been writing on to see Mrs. Fujimoto looking down on me. "Yes, sensei?"

"Are you aware that the roofs are off limits to students?"

I frowned and shook my head. No one had told me that little fact. Of course, they probably assumed it was common sense but I had a habit of missing those little things. "No sensei, but I guess they are?" The wording was awkward but it was safer than saying, "I assume they are."

Mrs. Fujimoto nodded and pointed to the door. "And don't let me catch you back here."

For a second I almost filled the thought in my head as a challenge but then quickly threw the thought out. Having a personal hiding place wasn't worth being expelled. Of course both the library and roof were being watched so I had to find yet another hiding spot. I almost considered a tree but didn't like the idea of climbing in a skirt and knowing my luck, I'd get stuck.

I settled for hiding underneath a tree on the side that faced the fence that surrounded the school and worked on my writing.

_Even the look of the school puts the thought into your head. The grass is always cut with strategically placed trees and brushes. Windows are always washed, and the new buildings are all skyscrapers. There are some sport fields surrounded by chain fences but only the serious and professional teams use them. When I went to check out the archery range I was told by an upperclassman, or tempered steel, that only those training for tournaments could use it. The older buildings also match the look although they are old and made of stone and not glass windows._

_Only the wall surrounding the school and room 444 seem to not support the "all work no play" attitude. The streets around Hearth University get fairly dangerous after dark. The pale yellow paint with white trim that covers the high walls do a good job at making the school seem friendly and sunny. You'd almost forget that it is an inner city school with high walls that are needed to keep the less desirable people out. First day of school some kid nearly entered the school drunk and armed with a knife. Thankfully he couldn't figure out how to get into the school._

_That would be another reason to avoid the club. Besides the homework, I'm staying off campus in an apartment a little ways from the school and walking home alone at night would not be bright even if I was a body-builder and armed with a tank. However, I still need to return the costume._

As I glanced at my watch, the alarm started to go off warning me that I had only a few more minutes until lunch was over. After carefully folding the piece of paper I was writing on and placing it into my pocket-sized notebook, I lifted my shoulder bag and started to make my way to class. As I entered the Japanese Language classroom, I pushed my manga deeper into my bag and tried not to give Mrs. Fujimoto a reason to notice me. Instead of sitting near the front, I disappeared into the back section of the room. I couldn't hear as well, but I would be able to learn without the fear of her noticing the manga that lurked in my bag.

Class seemed to take forever and whenever Mrs. Fujimoto walked by, I'd kick my bag under my desk. Maybe I was being silly, but I had a hunch that she wouldn't have appreciated the fact that I had ignored her advice. I was sure that if she knew that I had manga in her class she would take it and never give it back. Of course legally that would be stealing but she could say that she took it away and lost it. Then she most likely would only have to pay me the amount the manga was worth. Or she could use a threat to change my marks to make me leave the manga behind. However, I doubted there was much that could be changed. Even without her telling me, I knew that I was failing. No matter how well I paid attention, I couldn't get the hang of the Japanese. I wasn't sure if it was her teaching style or if I just was incapable of learning Japanese.

It seemed that I was the only one having major troubles though. Most of the other students knew each other from going to the high schools in the city so they knew who to ask for help. I was one of the few out of towners in that class, but I didn't like to ask for help from people I didn't know. A personality trait that was going to get me failed.

Part way through the lesson I caught sight of the girl with the Saiyuki pin. Today she seemed to be paying more attention and was careful about what she said. Her Saiyuki pin was nowhere to be seen, and she kept playing with her hair. For a few moments, I wondered what was bugging her since yesterday she squeezed her pencil to the breaking point when she had problems. My focus was changed when Fujimoto asked me something about kanji that I got wrong.

Finally class was over and I allowed to leave and lick the scars on my ego. The last time I took such a beating was in English class when I just didn't understand the mind of my teacher. However, my ego returned to normal in one of my many business classes where my marks were at a comfortable level. Any math based course was the best for me because I could understand what was happening regardless of teaching style. In math two plus two always equals four. In Language sometimes you use which, others that, or you use fishes or fish, sorta like life.

In life sometimes you laugh, others you cry, and finally you die. Language and life give you all sorts of options to use (especially English) and some options are more recommended than others. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out what option to use in the situation of room 444. Would I join? Would I quit? Can you quit something before you formally join? My decision would only become clear when I reached room 444.

* * *

I stood outside the door to room 444 with a freshly cleaned Botan costume in hand for a few seconds before entering. I wanted to be completely sure that I would follow through with my decision to return the costume and leave. As much fun as I could have my grades were most important and I could not afford a distraction. I needed to graduate and continue on my way to become a chartered accountant. I needed to succeed and the only way I could be sure of my success would be to quit.

With a deep breath, I put my hand on the doorknob. Turned it. And entered. The first thing I noticed was the scent of roses. The second was a tall man sitting in the desk closest to the window on the left side of the room with red hair, amazing green eyes. He was reading but looked up when I entered. To be honest, I almost forgot to breath. I had always thought that animated was the only was Kurama would look good because of his hair being flat in real life. You cannot imagine how happy I was to see that I was wrong. However, I had a hard time meeting the eyes of the animated Kurama when he looked at the screen. Even in real life the staring at me was a bit unnerving so I quickly looked away and prayed that my face wasn't turning red. At that moment, a red rose was pushed in my face and purple eyes looked down on me.

"Welcome to the Host Club, beautiful lady," the man said.

My body went slack from relief. Blonde hair, purple eyes, and a flirting attitude. Tamaki was not someone I would have to worry about and as long as Kaiba wasn't Kyouya today I should have no problem telling them I wanted to quit. All Tamaki would do would sit in a corner, and if I knew Kurama as well as I felt I did, he would just accept it. Or maybe he only did that with Hiei.

I nodded to Tamaki's greeting, said hello, and explained that I had bought back the costume.

Tamaki stared at me with wide eyes as he asked, "Why are you returning it?"

I swallowed. "I can't really join the club. My work load is just too heavy and—"

Tamaki's face grew into a grin. "Oh we can help with that." He put a hand on my shoulder and turned me to face Kurama. Of course I focused on the wall behind him. "Kurama— I mean Shuichi is the best tutor in the world. I'm sure he could help you."

Kurama smiled sweetly at me, but I shook my head, trying not to show how much I wanted to remain in the club. "I'm sorry but I really can't join. Besides my work load, I live out side the campus and the streets get dangerous."

"Where do you live?"

He even sounded like Kurama! My little brother did impersonations, but he could never get the Kurama voice down. The guy who was cos-playing as Kurama must have practiced a lot to get his voice to match John Burgmeier's tone for tone. I was so stunned that it took me a few seconds to reply. Finally, I managed to say, "Apartment number 14 in the old Taylor Building on—"

"William Street." He nodded. "Kaiba has an apartment in that area as well. We could try to convince him to walk with you."

I could almost picture Kaiba's face when they voice the request. There were no words to express his anger, and I did not like the idea of walking down a dark street with a man who acted like Kaiba. It was far too easy to picture him ditching me in an alley. I shook my head. "It's okay. I'll be fine."

Tamaki shook his head. "Of course it isn't. Shuichi, we cannot allow this lovely lady to walk home by herself. What if some person decides to attack this cute little girl?"

Kurama sighed. "Tamaki, if she wants to quit, we cannot stop her."

Tamaki let go of my shoulder and stood in front of Kurama with wide eyes. "But Shuichi."

He shook his head and stood up. With gentle hands he took the costume from me. If I wasn't already a Kurama fan girl, I would have become one quickly. He smiled down at me again. "Thank you for returning the costume. Maybe you'll join later."

I nodded and tried not to stare.

Then Kaiba entered. He took one look at me and walked to his desk while saying, "So the airhead is back."

Tamaki wagged his finger in Kaiba's face as he sat down. "Kaiba, this girl is our guest. We must treat all who enter this door with gentle care and love."

Kurama nodded. "Actually she is leaving."

Kaiba blinked once before turning to look at me with a smirk on his face. "So the teachers warned you about us and you listened, little girl?"

I kept my mouth shut and waited for the end of the conversation so that I could leave. However, Kaiba had other plans.

"Or maybe you couldn't take playing with the big boys."

Kurama turned so that he was able to face Kaiba, and I learned that Kaiba wasn't the only one with a scary glare. "That's enough Kaiba. She already explained her reasons." He turned to slightly face me once again before saying, "You'd better be going before the buses stop."

I nodded and started to walk towards the door when I hear Kaiba laugh. "I told you Kurama. If the club is going to stay open, we need members with more backbone. Not little weak-kneed girls."

"Who said I was weak?" Against my better judgement, I turned back to face him.

He rolled his eyes. "You think I couldn't notice it without help? Your whole attitude betrays you."

I kept my mouth shut as I tried to think of something to say that wouldn't give him any ground. "And what else does my attitude tell you then?"

His smirk widened. I probably should have said something else. "Well it tells me that you—"

Kurama stepped between us and put a hand on my shoulder. "Kaiba. That's enough." To me he said, "I'll walk you to the gates."

I shook my head. If there was one thing I was good at, it was fighting until I had nothing left, regardless of mental scaring, and no school or guy was going to change that. "Go on," I said.

For a second, it looked like Kaiba was going to let me have it. Then a huge crash was heard. We all looked to the left to see Tamaki buried under a pile of desks. He weakly grinned as he said, "Sorry. I was trying to put the Botan costume away when the desks collapsed."

I sighed but did not make eye contact with Kaiba again. Although I hadn't watched the anime in years or read the manga recently, I was not about to give him another chance to get me mad. Knowing me, I would probably end up rejoining the club just to spite him. However, as the other two boys helped Tamaki out from under the desks, my eyes fell on the Botan costume. I took in the worn edges and messy sewing. Someone had worked hard on making the costume, only to leave it here to be covered with dust. It didn't seem right. My eyes wandered the room for one last time. All of these objects had been left by their owners because they were no longer wanted. It was sad, but I needed to keep moving ahead.

A thought popped into my head suddenly. Was that what the owner of the toys and costumes thought when they left them here? Did they think that only by leaving the toys and games of childhood and teenhold they would survive the adult world? I could not imagine leaving my collection of manga and anime to rot. They were my sanity, my guides, my comfort.

My mind returned to high school. How many times had I backed away when I had a chance to join something because of the slim possibility of homework? I never joined the badminton team, never went on the ski trip, and never joined the drama team. All because of fear for my grades even though it was proven that I could get buy with a 70% without trying. And how many times had I sat in my room doing nothing?

However, I had already said that I would quit. How would I say that I would like to rejoin the club? Was it even within acceptable boundaries to say something like that?

More thoughts came to my mind, and I barely noticed when Tamaki was finally out from under desks. I snapped back to reality when he tried to put the costume back in a box on the top shelf. Somewhere in my half-decided mind, it was realized what I was going to do. As Tamaki started to get on the desks again with Kurama and Kaiba watching, I took a step forward. Hoping I wasn't going to seem really pathetic I said, "Excuse me."

All three boys turned to face me but I focused on Tamaki's face, which was the most friendly and welcoming. His eyes seemed to sparkle as I struggled to find the right words. Finally the words came out.

"I could be part of the club for a little while, if you guys don't mind."

Tamaki's face lit up like Christmas came early and he got just what he wanted. Jumping down from the desks, he grabbed me in a hug and spun me around. Oddly, instead of being creeped out, I was amused. Eventually he let me go and turned to the other boys.

"Kurama, question her," he announced. "Kaiba—"

"No."

Tamaki turned to Kaiba with the same wide purple eyes. "You don't want to help this lovely flower?"

With a glare Kaiba went and sat down. "She can join the club but don't expect me to help."

With a gentleman's chuckle, Kurama turned to me and started walk over to his desk. "Before we give you some more costumes, we need to know more about you."

I nodded and sat down in the chair beside his desk and watched as he pulled out some paper and a pen. "How familiar are you with anime and manga?" was the first question he asked.

I tilted my head to side to show my confusion. "Well I watch mostly shonen animes."

Kurama wrote down something on the paper but it was in Japanese. "Such as?"

"Well the Dragon Ball series, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu Yu Hakusho." I frowned as I tried to remember any other animes I had watched. "I've also read Ushio and Tora."

"Any other animes?"

I nodded. "Sailor Moon, Inuyasha, Card Captors—"

His eyes narrowed. "Japanese or American?"

"Both for Card Captors and Inuyasha, but only American for Sailor Moon."

He nodded and wrote down the titles in English before asking, "What was the first anime and manga you read, and how old were you?"

"I watched Sailor Moon before I turned three but I don't really remember when. And Yu-Gi-Oh was the first manga I read."

"You don't recall when?"

I nodded.

"Interesting that you started watching shojo and then switched to shonen."

I shrugged and looked around the room amused by how Tamaki was badgering Kaiba. Kurama's next question focused me to return my attention towards him. "Do you write or make videos of anime or manga?"

I nodded. "I write fanfictions for Yu Yu Hakusho mostly."

"Is that your favourite anime?"

I nodded and prayed that he wouldn't ask me who my favourite character was. Thankfully he didn't. Instead he asked, "What are your areas of strength in school?"

"Maths and science are my strong points. Languages, not so much."

He nodded. "When you say science, do you mean all three?"

I shook my head. "I didn't take biology."

"A shame."

I shrugged. "Accountants don't really need to know about the ecosystems."

He smiled slightly as he finished writing. "I would ask how you take becoming angry, but I believe I already know how."

I glanced over where Kaiba was glaring at Tamaki. He had me there, not that I would expect anything less.

"The final thing I have to ask you is this."

I nodded and waited.

"Which characters do you see yourself being most like?"

I frowned and looked down at my feet as I thought. "Well I have a temper like Kagome."

"And you are stubborn."

When I smiled, I realized in the back of my mind it was for the first time that day. "That's true, but I like to think that I'm a bit more level headed in some matters in life."

To my relief he did not question me, but instead waited while I thought of another person I saw as being similar to myself. "I also act like Botan I suppose."

He blinked. "In what way?"

"I tend to smile when I'm upset, and can be fairly obvious."

"Another trait Kagome and you share."

I nodded again before trying to think of anyone else. "I care a lot for rules and responsibility like Keiko but that's all I can think of."

He nodded and wrote down something before folding the paper up. "The way I see it, you seem like a very sweet caring girl with a dangerous wrath when angered."

I had to look down at my feet at that point or else start blushing. Thankfully, Tamaki walked over to give me a book. The cover was falling away from the spiral binding and the pages were food stained but the title was impossible to mistake. "This is the code of our club," he explained. "It's very important that you read it cover to cover." I nodded and he turned to Kurama. Without a word, they walked over to where Kaiba was so that he could put in his two cents.

Feeling that overhearing would be rude, I started to read the book. On the first page were badly drawn manga characters surrounding the title, "the Code of Anime Manga Addicts" and on the second was the basic rules of the club. The first rule stated that, as I had learned on my first day, members must act in character the moment they enter the room. The next few were about basic respect and trading. The third page listed all the special days in the club. As I was studying them I couldn't help but over hear the boys.

"So what do we have?" Tamaki was asking when I started playing attention.

Out of the corner of my eyes I saw Kurama hand him the paper and reply, "It seemed that Umino's idea of making her a Kagome was not far from the mark. She certainly has the personality. However, she could be acting." He turned to Kaiba. "You said that she pretended to be a meek and helpless first year when she first opened the door?"

He nodded. "She ruined her illusion when she picked a fight with me."

"And won it too if Umino was to be believed," Tamaki added with a grin. "How did she manage to tip your chair with a broom?"

Kurama frowned. "Wasn't she acting like Botan at that point?"

Kaiba shook his head. "Botan would not act like that unless she was confronting Yusuke. She wouldn't dare do something like that to me."

"But she did." I focused on the code when Tamaki glanced in my direction. "Somehow she reminds me of you Kaiba."

"If you want to live, you will never repeat that Tamaki."

Kurama nodded. "All the same, we do need members. Acting or not, this girl might just be the breath of fresh air we need to keep the club going. If we train her, she'll be able to manage the club with Tamaki when we leave. Isn't that right Kaiba?"

Kaiba nodded. "Remember, if she is acting, then there are no doubts about why she is here."

"We'll remember. Miss?"

I looked up to see all the men looking at me and nodded. "Yes?"

"We found some costumes for you to try on."

I nodded and looked behind him to see Tamaki who was holding a black wig, Kagome's green and white school uniform as well as a blue skirt, pink jacket, and a blue ribbon.

"You'll look so cute in these," he said with a grin.

Unable to do anything else I nodded before saying, "Do I really have to be Anzu in those clothes though?"

The look on Kaiba's face was priceless, and I had the feeling I was really going to enjoy this club, homework or not. And if I did have homework… well I'm sure Kurama could be helpful. Haha.

* * *

**A/N: This was a pain to write but as soon as Kurama showed up all was well. You can tell who my favourite is, can't you? As for Tamaki, if I screwed up on him, please let me know. I haven't watched Ouran in detail. Thanks for reading and reviewing. I'll try to update soon!**

**-D101**


	3. Taking Names And Changing Face

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 3**

_Hey mom,_

_I'm still alive. My business courses are going okay and Jap 101 is eating my soul. However, I might actually pass. I've joined a club and the members seen really nice, except for one. They all speak a little Japanese and use it when I least expect it so I probably won't completely fail._

_The club is basically an anime club where we dress up as characters and act like them. Don't worry, I'm keeping up in all my studies and I'm well grounded so I won't let the other members rope me into anything. Besides only one would actually be mean to me and the others would stop him. There's only three other members in the club but we don't really do much._

_On the first day we cleaned up the clubroom so it looked nice and I cosplayed as Botan. Since then we haven't really done anything but talk and do a little homework. Today they promised something interesting would happen so I'm excited. I'll write more when I have time._

_See ya!_

_-Mona_

With a sigh, I folded up the letter and placed it in my notebook before starting to make my way towards the school's front steps. Since no one had bothered me while I sat under the tree it had become my new hiding spot. It probably wouldn't last for long though. While Hearth University was in a warm and sunny climate, the city occasionally was hit by strong storms.

Once I went to go on a tour of the school but I had to reschedule because of a storm knocking out the power. The lake that was on the outside of the city had been kicking up eight feet waves and flooding the roads as well. Thankfully, since I had joined Hearth's ranks there hadn't been another storm like that. I was always worried about what I would do if a storm happened though. Back home the worst we ever had to deal with were snow blizzards dropping more snow than you could shovel onto your driveway. Flooding was something I had never had to deal with so before joining Hearth's ranks I had read up on all the safety precautions. Unfortunately that only scared me more when I realized how under prepared I was, so I just tried to stop thinking about it.

I glanced at my watch again out of habit. Fifteen minutes to go before class. Then a few more hours before I could go and get my costume on. After a few weeks, the cosplaying had really become addictive. Although we had yet to actually do something other than talk, it was fun. It was such a relief to be able to hide behind Botan, Anzu, or even Kagome's personality and be happy about something instead of freaking out about whatever project I had coming up. I knew I was being irresponsible but as my high school law teacher had said, "You're only young once so why bother spending it working when you'll be working for the rest of your lives." I may not have listened during high school but at university I didn't have a part time job so I was bored. (Although I was working on that.) I didn't tell my mom that though because she would worry that I was getting roped into something dangerous. While writing the letter, I could see why she would think that. Any form of club had the potential for evil. If you showed too much of yourself, the other members could get blackmail and force you into doing something. Or you got too loyal to them and did it because they told you to. However, the Anime/Manga Addicts was different. We focused only on self-expression and never used our real names.

I paused on the stairs as a thought hit me. Everyone knew my name but I didn't know any of theirs. I wasn't even sure which costumes belonged to which boy. I could guess based on their personalities but that wasn't the same as knowing. The realization should have worried me I guess but I just shrugged it off and kept walking. I was almost at the top of the stairs when a voice shouted, "Yo raw metal!"

Since I was the only one on the stairs, I paused and turned to look behind me. A tall upperclassman walked up with a smile on his face. The cocky smile made me want to throw up. Sadly that was the affect of self-expression through cosplaying. When you pretended to be a character who had tracts you shared but hid, you got used to showing them. Anzu's dislike for people with egos (something I shared) was starting to show more strongly in me. Or it could have been the fights I was picking with Kaiba. I frowned once he was standing beside me. "Can I help you?" I asked.

He nodded. "I'm from the Alpha fraternity and you seem like the perfect person to join our ranks."

I blinked, pretending to be interested when in reality I was sickened. I had heard all about those clubs and there was no way on this blue, green, and smoggy Earth that I was going to humiliate myself just to get into a club. "Really?" I asked, politely interested but trying to subtly back away.

"Sure. You're amazing in all your classes and you're really cute." He smiled and put a hand on my shoulder as if he had just paid me the greatest compliment. In reality, he did the exact opposite.

When I was little some jerk thought it'd be funny to call me cute. Since then I went out of my way to not be cute. I wore my hair in a ponytail that had been left at high school because of the dress code at Hearth. I wore baggy clothing and a baseball cap (again left at high school). And when I got glasses I went for the kind that were red around the lenses but faded to black around the arms. The only times I took cute as a compliment was from my mother and this boy was anything but my mother.

"I'm failing Japanese 101," I said as if I couldn't make sense of what he was saying. They probably used the same line on everyone they tried to get to pledge.

He shrugged as he took his hand from my shoulder. "Japanese doesn't really matter here in North America now does it?"

I mentally grinned. He did it now. As my siblings (and now Kaiba) well knew, the moment you stated something you thought was true I'd make it false within seconds. "Actually since the Japanese and Chinese are taking over more and more of American and Canadian companies, the knowledge of their language will be invaluable in near foreseeable the future."

He hadn't been expecting that and when he smiled again it was forced. "Well your other classes are awesome so what do you say?" He held out his hand. "You want to be an Alpha?"

I shook my head. "No. I'm more of a Libra and an advisor than a leader. Thanks though." I turned on my heel leaving him to figure out what I had just said. Knowing my luck, I had just painted a sign on my head saying "Prime target for new pledging activities" but I didn't really care. They couldn't do anything really bad or else the school would get a bad rep after I call the cops.

I sat down in my usual seat and smoothed out my longer black shirt. As I had stated before Hearth was in a sunny climate but during the winter months the place cooled down a little so that the temperature was around 70 degrees (roughly 22 C). Since I came from a colder climate I didn't feel cold but I was thankful for the excuse to wear my longer skirt. No more pulling on it because it was riding up too high!

Class started after a few minutes and I jotted down notes with a mental note to rewrite them out later. Only three more hours before I could slip into my costume and see what interesting thing the boys had planned.

*A*M*R*

I slipped into my costume as quick as I could and put a big smile on my face as I entered the room. "Hey guys," I said.

From his seat over in the corner, Kurama looked up and smiled. Over the past few weeks, I had gotten to know the Kurama cosplayer so I could actually look him in the eye. Not to say that I didn't blush when he said something really sweet but I was quick to put the cosplayer and the actual character Kurama on opposite sides of my mind.

"Welcome back," he said as I sat down at my chair with a huge yellow backpack and smoothed out my skirt. While I loved Kagome, her costume's green skirt annoyed me as much as any other skirt. It was simply too short… although Anzu's wasn't any better and Botan's kimono was almost too warm to wear.

"Thanks," I replied as I looked around. "So where are the other guys?"

Kurama smiled. "In a rush?"

I ran through my memory trying to remember if we had made it so that the other boys knew about Inuyasha. I couldn't remember so I went with the safe answer. "Not really. I just have lots of homework tonight."

Kurama settled back into his book. "The others will be arriving shortly. They just needed to pick something up."

"Cool."

He nodded and read for five seconds before saying, "By the way, have you given any thought to inviting another friend to the club?"

I frowned, coming out of character for a moment to figure out what he meant. "You mean school based or character based?"

If Kurama had been Tamaki, he probably would have scolded me. Instead he set his book down and grabbed the Code. "I meant character." He flipped the pages until he found what he wanted before handing it to me. "You've been in the club for a little while so you'll have to have your special costume ready soon."

I glanced over the page and saw that a "special costume" is the first costume that a member makes alone. "Are there any rules for who I can be?"

He shook his head. "Not really. Before your special had to be cleared with the heads of the club so that we didn't have too many of the same characters running around." He motioned to the area around us. "As you can see, that's not really an issue. As long as you have it ready by the 24th of fourth month that you've joined the club, everything will be fine."

I nodded as I tried to think of who I could be. "What's yours?"

He smiled. "That's a secret."

I would have kept asking him but Kaiba and Tamaki entered the room with a few small boxes in their hands. With barely a glance in my direction, Kaiba tossed one of the boxes at Kurama. "They didn't have the rolls so you'll have to put up with sushi."

Meanwhile Tamaki handed me a box and I tilted my head at him. "What's this?" I asked.

He smiled. "Contact lenses."

I frowned. "And I have them because…"

Kaiba rolled his eyes as he sat down. "Because none of your characters wear glasses and you do."

I let that remark go without an argument because it made sense and Kagome would have let it go. For now. "But how did you know what to get?"

Tamaki motioned to Kurama. "It just so happens that Spirit World was willing to give us all the information we wanted."

I tried to smile, as if learning that the boys could learn anything about anyone wasn't a scary thought. Now I felt really outdone. I didn't know their names but they knew mine and enough about me to get contacts. "So do I owe you guys for these or—"

"Quit stalling and just put them on."

I blinked at Kaiba. Even for him that was a bit harsh. "I'm not stalling; I'm just trying to get some information."

He rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms. "No you don't owe us. Yes they are the right prescription. Yes we got you coloured ones as well. And if you want to stay in the club, you had better put them on right now."

To his right, Kurama smiled weakly. "What Kaiba is trying to say is that it would be better if you wore contacts while cosplaying so that you could truly get into the character."

I frowned again as I opened the box. Inside I found five little cases with words engraved in them. One was labelled pink. Another was blue. The rest were clear, green, and gray. Since Kagome had brown eyes like me I picked up the clear case. Now here is a fun fact, I've worn glasses since grade 9 and I have never worn contacts. The idea of placing something on my eye while trying not to poke myself in the eye never really appealed to me so I guess I was stalling as the boys waited for me to put on the contacts. If there was one thing I've learned from school is that if you stall enough, someone will take pity on you and help. Unfortunately, Kaiba was in a really bad mood.

"If you don't know how, you can just say so," he said as he uncrossed his arms.

Rather than make him madder, I looked up and shrugged. "Okay. I don't know how."

He groaned and then showed me how to put on contacts. Apparently, the cosplayer for Kaiba also wore glasses and his eyes were green not blue. He reached to his right eye and quickly took out his contact lens so that he had one blue eye and one green eye. My stomach became queasy when he did that. This was why I was going to be an accountant. Anything having to do with the body just made me sick. Even contact lenses. So of course, the Kaiba cosplayer put the contact lens back in with practice ease and then expected me to be able to do the same.

Six minutes later I was wearing contact lenses and not enjoying it. However, for the sake of Kagome I played my part and put up with the little plastic lenses placed over my eyes. Thankfully, Kaiba and I quickly got into a battle over something and I forgot about my contacts so yay!

Then someone knocked on the door. The next thing I knew was that I was being chucked into the curtain space with a death threat from Kaiba. If I so much as made a noise, they would never find my body. Not sure if he was seriously going to kill me or not, I obeyed. However, since sitting on my head and not the floor wasn't very comfortable, I turned around in the small space so that I was standing.

The door opened and some people entered the room. Being me and curious, I did what anyone would have done in my place, opened the curtain a pinch and tried to see what was going on. As Mrs. Fujimoto and Mr. Favager waltzed into the room, I felt the temperature of the room drop. I barely had time to wonder why teachers were bothering with room 444 when Mr. Favager spoke.

"Well boys, have you thought about my offer?"

The glares from Kaiba and Kurama could have killed the devil. Kurama was the first to speak. "I'm afraid we've been too busy to even consider joining student council."

Mrs. Fujimoto nodded as she looked around. "I would say so. This place actually looks half decent. You three however still look the same." She studied Kurama for a moment before saying, "Andrew, stop being foolish and dress like someone who actually has a job for once."

Kur-Andrew muttered something about getting on that. However, Mrs. Fujimoto didn't stop glaring at him until he added, "Mother."

She then nodded as if pleased before turning to Kaiba. "See, your half-brother knows his place. Now if only you would listen and leave this foolishness. And take out those contacts, Sean. They make you look old."

Ka-Sean crossed his arms as he glared at her but he was silent.

Mrs. Fujimoto frowned some more. "I believe I told you to do something."

"And I believe I stopped taking orders from you when I moved out."

"Watch your tone, Sean."

Behind them Mr. Favager was glaring at Tamaki.

"When are you going to apply yourself seriously?"

Tamaki shrugged but he didn't have the same aura of Andrew and Sean. Instead of glaring and putting up a cold front, Tamaki seemed to shrink into himself.

Mr. Favager groaned when he didn't receive a reply. "Your mother and I didn't spend thousands of dollars for you to come here and play, Martin."

Tam-Martin's voice was small and he was looking at his shoes. "I know."

"If you know then forget this club."

Martin only shook his head.

Mrs. Fujimoto paused in her verbal battle with her son to look around again. "By the way, where is your new member?"

All three of the boys tensed and I decided that freezing would be my best option.

"What new member?" Andrew asked, blinking his green eyes.

Mr. Favager frowned. "Don't get smart with us, Mr. Brock. We know you recently talked to a raw metal."

Andrew nodded. "Yes but she did not join the club."

Mr. Favager smiled. "Really? Such a shame. She might have been able to give this club some life."

Sean glared at him. "Or been another target."

"Pardon?"

Martin elbowed Sean but he ignored him. "Those thugs were obviously sent to scare us and let me tell you, we don't scare easily."

Mr. Favager nodded. "You and your half-brother perhaps but…" His voice trialed off as he looked at his son. Beside him Mrs. Fujimoto coughed.

"We'd better leave before the dust settles," she said as she turned to the door. "Remember Sean, Andrew, the council would gladly have you. All you have to do is leave Ma—"

"No," Andrew and Sean said, cutting her off.

Mrs. Fujimoto shrugged. "Alright. But I'd keep an eye out, especially for the new girl." She opened the door and disappeared through it.

Mr. Favager followed but not before looking around one last time and saying, "And Martin, get rid of those contacts. The purple gives you colour."

Sean slammed the door shut before Mr. Favager could see Martin look down at his shoes. I came out from the curtain seconds later. Sean-Kaiba was shaking with anger while Kurama had an arm around Tamaki who was staring at his shoes. He seemed to be in a trance. Without considering the stupidity of my question, I asked, "Is he okay?"

Kaiba turned on me. "How okay would you be if your father mocked you daily?"

Kurama glared at him. "She's just being considerate."

Kaiba rolled his eyes and glared at the door as if it was the cause of all his problems. Tamaki meanwhile seemed to return to the land of the living as his confidence came back. "Well now, I say we forget all about that and get to work."

I frowned. "On what?"

Tamaki smiled his grin I was starting to fear. "On our next big event of course. Our club won't survive unless we get more members."

Kaiba glared at him. "We won't survive if we don't stay out of the council's eye."

Somehow I had the feeling he wasn't talking about cosplaying. I glanced at Kurama for an explanation but he ignored me as we slowly slipped back into our game. Tamaki, Kurama, and I bounced ideas back and forth on ways to get people to join the club. Posters apparently had been tried and turned out to be a waste of paper. Tamaki's host club idea had been shot down because there weren't enough boys and they didn't like the idea of leaving me alone with boys. And we didn't have enough people for a skit. Finally, it was time to pack it up for the night. Tamaki and Sean quickly disappeared into the night but I stayed back with Kurama while he closed up. As he was locking the door for room 444, I asked, "What was Kaiba talking about when he said we needed to stay outside the council's eye?"

Kurama sighed as he took off his wig revealing the brown hair underneath. "As you probably could guess the university isn't very happy with our club."

I nodded as I followed him to the gates. "But they can't really close it down, can they?"

Andrew shook his head. "Easily. All they have to do is reduce the club to one member."

"How would they do that?"

We paused at the gates and Andrew offered to walk me home. I accepted and he continued. "By offering Sean and I positions on student council."

"Like they did with Ashley?"

He nodded. "They'll probably do the same to you once they find out you're in the club,"

"Well the Alphas offered but I turned them down."

"Why?"

I shrugged as I looked both ways before crossing the street. "Humiliating myself just to get into a club isn't really my style."

Andrew nodded. "I'd watch my step then. The Alphas are infamous for revenge schemes."

I nodded. We were silent for a moment while we waited for the light to turn green so we could cross. "So you and Ka-Sean are half brothers."

He nodded. "I wouldn't recommend reminding him of that though. He isn't very fond of his parents."

"So I'm not the only one he thinks is an idiot?"

Andrew chuckled a little as we neared my apartment. "You may not believe me, but Sean actually doesn't think you're **that** much of an idiot."

I frowned. "Really."

"Really. He hasn't had someone talk back to him in ages so he's probably enjoying himself at your expense—"

I nodded. That sure sounded like a Kaiba thing to do. However, Andrew wasn't finished.

"—and he's just testing you to see if you really will remain in the club. Once he realizes you will, he'll switch over to 'friend' treatment."

I frowned. "Does he do this to everyone?"

Andrew nodded. "The one girl who joined back in our freshman year was reduced to tears daily because of him. Later we found out she had just joined the club to try to split up the three of us."

I frowned. "Speaking of that, why did Mrs. Fujimoto and Mr. Favager only seem interested in having you and Sean join student council and not Tamaki as well?"

"As you probably noticed Martin tends to shut down in front of his father. He probably doesn't strike them as student council material."

I was about to ask more questions but we had reached my apartment. I said goodbye to Andrew and started to finish my nightly routine. It looked like there was a lot more to the club than I thought. I just hoped I was ready for whatever was to come. Sean's words about the only way to survive was to hide kept coming back into my head. I couldn't help but wonder if he had used survive deliberately as if our lives were really on the line. But they couldn't be… could they?

* * *

**A/N: Was the name switch thing confusing? I tried to make it obvious who I was talking about but if it wasn't obvious enough I'll change it and I hope you enjoyed the chapter! Thanks for reading!**

**-D101**


	4. I Want a Cushioned Light Pole

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 4**

_Annoy. The word means to cause slight anger or mental distress to, be somewhat angry, or harass repeatedly. In life this could be your little brother drawing all over your homework. It could also refer to your mind state when that certain someone doesn't even notice you're alive. Finally, the word could refer to how THOSE people just refuse to leave you alone._

_Turning the Alpha fraternity down flat and showing off my awesome ability to confuse people probably wasn't the wisest move on my part. Since then my locker that I had bought from the school has been vandalised twice and broken into four times. Thankfully I only use it to store my coat and bag on rainy days so nothing was stolen. However, I have found multiple annoying notes that I keep in a file folder at home. Although not threatening to do anything to me yet, these will serve as evidence to convince the police that the fraternity was slowly warming up to violence. My fellow peers have also taken to bumping me in the halls and being catty in my hearing (saying rude and unwanted things about me). Again, since these are not technically threats I can not go to the police. Instead I decide to merely wait it out. However, after two weeks and six days of this behaviour I'm starting to wish I could just make them shut up._

I paused in my writing as a couple of freshmen walked by, commenting on my clothing and how pathetic it was. With a sigh, I tilted my head to the side and looked back on my doodles I had started in an attempt to plan what would happen in my next story. Didn't they realize that we were all wearing the same uniform?

Another group walked by saying, "Her mother probably still dresses her."

I sighed again. Apparently not. It really was true about high school. It never ends. Although I guess that is a good thing. If it did, I wouldn't be prepared for royal jerks at my workplace. At least this way I would get some practice in. On the other hand, it was getting harder to keep my mouth shut and not say anything. Not to pat myself on the back or anything but my battles with Kaiba were slowly working my comebacks into well-delivered arrows of humiliation. Slowly though. I still had a lot to learn as Kaiba kept painfully pointing out.

Standing from my place under my tree, I started to walk towards the front door. Maybe I'd get a little peace in the classroom while I waited for class to start. I was halfway there when I heard a cry of, "Fire!"

A second later a water balloon hit the ground a few paces from me. It exploded sending a wave of ice cold water over my shoes. Again, I came from a colder climate so the water was almost a welcome since my feet were overheating. However, the next balloon exploded on a tree in front of me. I wasn't wet but the balloon passed by my head. Their failure at aiming wasn't a concern. My worry was where they were trying to hit. From the looks of things, this was a no-rule game of dodge ball. However, I refused to give in. I calmly walked to the front door before ducking behind a pillar.

The balloons all missed but I became soaked from the explosions. Sadly, I didn't have time to go home and change. The fact I would probably be shot to death by someone if I walked into class with my cosplay costume on stopped that plan as well. With little choice I walked to class and sat through a two hour lesson in a freezing lecture hall. By the end of the two hours, I was sure I had a cold. I shivering like someone had turned me on vibrate mode and someone kept calling. My head was spinning and I just felt horrible. Fortunately, it was Friday so I could just sleep off my cold tomorrow. Unfortunately, I couldn't go home right then because I still had a few more classes. With a great display of will, I sat and learned in a soaking wet uniform in many air conditioned classrooms. However, will must be rewarded if it will continue to work.

In an attempt to keep me on my feet so that I wouldn't pass out during club, I went to the university's coffee shop and ordered a cup of tea. I drank it on my way to club and was surprised at how the warmth seemed to seep into every fibre of my being. Of course the change of clothes might have helped since I was cosplaying as Botan and she had the full length kimono. Regrettably, I still couldn't see straight. I figured it was probably my contacts since I had only had them for two weeks or so and was still working on learning how to put them on.

I did have some doubts though. More than once while cosplaying Kaiba had given me a strange look. I mean stranger than usual. It wasn't his normal "you're being an idiot so stop arguing with me and say I'm right" look. Instead he seemed confused by my behaviour. Although I didn't really notice a change. Of course, my head was still spinning so it could have been that. Actually, the spinning got so bad that I had to leave club early. Since my clothes were still wet, I walked home as Botan but I had made sure to take my contacts out and wear my glasses so I could see better. I expected to get some weird looks but no one seemed to notice. Well one guy did. He kept following me as I walked down the street. When I stopped to look at something in the window of a store he stood there and watched me. I ignored him since I was only a few more steps to my house and then I'd behind a locked door. Besides, he didn't try to approach me so I figured he was just keeping an eye on me. Whether it was for my own protection or for the Alphas I couldn't say but I had a feeling it was for my own good. He seemed really familiar.

My headache was getting worse and the world kept spinning. Since I had to cross a busy road and I wasn't feeling the best, I huddled with a crowd at the crosswalk. It was taking longer than usual for the light to turn green but my mind slowly drifted into daydreams. I thought about what would happen if every week a girl was pushed into traffic by a homicidal manic. No one could catch him so one policewoman decided to act as bait. She underestimated him and died. However, her ghost couldn't find rest so she went to see her partner only to get stuck to him and having to follow him around. I imagined what trouble could arise from that and it seemed like a good plot to me.

I blinked as I came out of my daydream. The light was still red, but I was at the front of the crowd waiting for it to change. My head was becoming fuzzier as I realized that the light must have turned green while I was daydreaming. I frowned as I thought that. I rarely dreamed so deeply that I missed little details like that. That cold must be to blame I thought so I waited.

Trucks and cars drove by as they headed home. A few semis passed and a shiver always ran down my spine when they drove through the lane in front of me. That was the problem with having a good imagination. I could imagine the semi crashing into me if I so much as slipped out into traffic. Blood would go everywhere. Cars would be honking. Sirens would be wailing, and I would be dead.

I shook my head to clear the thoughts. Soon I'd be home, able to sleep, able to get rid of this cold. After I made dinner of course. Behind me, I felt a shove hit me in the back. I didn't realize how unsteady I was as I tried to avoid falling on my face. I stepped out into traffic and slipped. Shaking my head and trying to regain my reflexes, I tried to stand but my muscles weren't working. That's when I noticed the semi coming right for me and I knew what fear was like.

There is nothing worse than fear. It can make you drown in air. Freeze on the tracks. Sometimes even die. As I watched the semi come closer I felt myself freeze in my tracks. All logical decisions to dive to the side disappeared from my mind as I looked into the headlights. I didn't notice the driver's face. I didn't even think of the semi as a metal box. It was the fear that caused my lungs to fail to bring oxygen to my muscles. The semi was getting closer. I couldn't move. My legs were jelly. I was going to die. I had always joked about dying young. This time it wasn't a joke. This time the semi was heading for me.

I was too terrified to close my eyes. The semi came closer. Closer. Closer. A fleeting thought made me want to brace myself. No time. Metal touched me. It was over.

I waited for my body to go flying. For my soul to leave. For the pain to override my senses.

Nothing.

I could see the semi in front of me. I could hear people shouting at me. I was breathing. I wasn't dead?

My hand was trembling. I reached out to the metal grin in front of me. Pain. I pulled my hand back. The grin was hot. Very hot. Painfully hot. My hand hurt as I tried to block out the pain. I was alive! Someone was laughing in the background and someone was shaking my shoulder. Slowly I realized I had tears running down my face. I had almost died. I was still alive. The idea was so relieving that I started laughing. Take that semi! My mouth was already moving when I started to laugh and I realized that I was already was. Feeling like a baka, I continued to laugh at my foolishness.

Suddenly I was flying. Then I was standing. My laughing stopped as I realized how tired I was. My head started to nod as I ran out of adrenalin. Vaguely I realized that I was leaning against a really comfy light pole. I didn't know they made cushioned light poles. I wanted one.

The noises around me became louder as people started honking their horns and sirens raced to some emergency. I saw the flashing lights pull up but thought nothing of it as voices drifted in and out of my consciousness.

"Has your girlfriend taken any drugs recently? For pain or stress?"

"She was pushed in front of a semi that stopped inches from her nose. How coherent could you be if that happened to you?"

Sitting suddenly seemed like an awesome idea so I tried to sink to the ground. The cushiony light pole had arms that forced me to keep standing. I was not happy. I wanted to sit down so I pinched the arm around my waist. I was still standing. Nothing. I kicked the light pole. It growled so I stopped hurting it. Light poles have feelings too you know. I started laughing again.

"Are you **sure** she isn't on drugs? It wouldn't be unusual for a university student to—"

"She's having mood swings and no she isn't pregnant. The only drug she is on is adrenalin that is starting to wear off. Now can we go?"

"I need your names and addresses."

A mailbox was standing beside the light pole that was holding me up. It was writing a letter as the light pole told it that it lived in apartment five. I laughed harder. Light poles lived on streets not apartments. A bird flew by then. It flew into the road. A car turned, jumped, and ate the bird. No more bird. I started crying.

"You sure you don't want a ride?"

"No."

The light pole grew legs and started walking away from the mailbox, dragging me with it. I waved to the mailbox but the light pole grabbed my arm. We walked pass a group of buildings. They were pretty. Red and brown and purple. Some were even upside down. I started laughing again. People would have to enter them through the windows and get dirt on the ceilings. Like China where things were upside down. We entered a building through a spinning door. It kept going round and round like the world. But then it stopped moving! Did the Earth stop moving like the door too? I looked down at the floor, ignoring the tug of the light pole. The ground wasn't moving! The light pole pulled and the ground started moving again. False alarm.

Then I was thrown into a small box with mirrors and glowing buttons. I started to reach for the one that had a line and a picture of an eyeball with no dot. The light pole grabbed my hand and pushed the one that looked like an upside down nine. We were going to the opposite of nine. So the ceiling would be the floor and the lights would shine darkness. I didn't like that. So I pushed the one that looked like half an eight. That way we could walk half of the way down the floor before it got cut off.

A ding came out of nowhere and the box started moving. The walls were closing in! The light pole didn't seem to notice but I did! The mirrors made the room seem huge but I knew the truth! We were going to be squished! Why else would I be pressed up against the comfy light pole? I punched the wall to try to stop them from moving. The walls in front of me started to open. Ha! I started laughing again. I was the overload of awesome!

"You mean overlord."

I didn't reply because the girl in the mirror was staring at me. I stared back. We were having a staring contest. She blinked. But I had blinked too. Who won!

There was another ding. I was dragged out of the box into a hallway before we could have a rematch. The hallway was really nice. The carpet was red like roses and the walls were white like milk. What would milk and roses taste like? Would it be milk that just smelt like roses? Or would it taste like roses and smell like milk? What did roses taste like? I bet they tasted yummy. Kurama was cool.

The hallway started spinning. It was a trap! The light pole was trying to kill me! He had received orders from the mailbox to kill me because the semi had failed! I would never trust metal objects ever again! I had to get out before they made me a metal spork! Half fork. Half spoon! I would be an outcast of eating utensils forever!

I tried to run away but the light pole grabbed me. It was all over! I was going to be an outcast! I cried out to the organic life forms for help!

"Save me from the dreaded metal before they take over the world!" I shouted.

Nothing. The whole building was already metal! We were all doomed! Doomed!

"You aren't going to be a spoon."

Of course I wouldn't be a spoon! I'd be a spork! I looked up at the light pole. It was wearing glasses! It was once a person! The light pole was trying to brainwash me! I tried to escape by throwing off my glasses. The light pole would surely try to save his metal brethren by running to catch them and letting me escape. I looked back to the small box but it had disappeared into the creamy wall! The light pole ignored my glasses. They must have been plastic and not metal! Eye for an Eye, why did you betray me!

I found myself standing in front of a huge wooden door where screams could be hear coming from. The light pole reached into my pocket and grabbed a set of metal shapes on a metal ring from my pocket. They must have been ninjas and slipped the keys into my pocket so that if the government found them the keys to their fiendish plan would be safe! I had to warn the government! I tried to run by stomping on one of the light pole's feet. That only made it mad as it threw me through the door into a dark room. Screaming robots that looked like cats circled me. What sort of hellhole was I in?

The light pole dragged me to another room and threw me into the room after hitting a switch. Was the floor going to open up? Were the walls going to start closing in? Was the light coming from the ceiling going to turn me into the spork of doom? I was going to die! I was going to die twice in one day! I paused. You couldn't die twice in one day. You couldn't even die twice unless you were in Dragon Ball or Yu Yu Hakusho. AH! I was in Dragon Ball! Dr. Gero was going to turn me into a metal plate just like Trunks! I didn't want to be a robot freak!

The light pole groaned. "You aren't going to be a robot!"

I was going to be a spork after all! Wait! If I was a spork, I could get rid of the two middle pointy things and be Batspork, defender of Foodville! I started laughing again at the thought of all the good I could do as a spork. I would be a good spork… or sport… No. Spork.

"Just go to bed and sleep this off!"

So that is how I would become a spork, I thought. I would sleep and become Spork-woman! I started to get into bed when I noticed the light. I started laughing again. The light pole should know that people only slept during the night-time and the sun was still shinning. Right above my head was the sun making the room all bright and happy.

The sun went out! Someone killed the sun! I started crying again. Now no one would be happy again! We were all doomed to be like Mr. Sad Face! Forever sad in the dark while ghosts and monsters came out of our closets and raided our kitchens. I looked at the door. Well they would never raid my fridge! I locked the door. Take that evil fridge robbing ghosts! But the sun was still dead! Spork-woman would have to avenge it!

Suddenly the idea of sleep seemed like a good one. But I couldn't sleep in my clothes. My Spork-woman clothes wouldn't fit properly after my awesome transformation. Besides sleeping in your working clothes was a no-no. So I took off my clothes. Now I could sleep and become Spork-Woman! … After singing myself a few lullabies from various sources. Caramelldansen was my favourite so I sang that extra loud!

My alarm and a major headache woke me up at 8:00 am, which was too early on a Saturday morning regardless of what was on TV. With barely a thought to my clothes, I wrapped myself in a blanket. It wasn't as if anyone was going to see me. However, I wasn't even thinking about that. The only thing on my mind was having a nice glass of water and going back to bed to sleep off my headache. It was almost as if I had been hit by a truck. The fact that I had the most messed up dream in my life so far didn't help. This was coming from the girl who tried to fire bend in her dreams before going super saiyan. A truck nearly hitting me the only thing I clearly remembered. The rest was Fruit loop land. I should have hit that light pole when he went for my keys though. As I unlocked my door, I made a future note to keep my keys in my coat pocket and not in my pants' one.

I entered the main living area of my apartment. Athens, one of my cats, wrapped around my feet while demanding attention. She did her usual scream and I scratched her head. I didn't worry about where Cairo was since he was probably sleeping under the couch. Trying not to move my head too much, I reached for a glass and started to fill it in the sink.

"Do you often run around half naked with male guests in the house?"

The glass crashed in the sink. I pulled the blanket tighter around myself. Sitting at my kitchen table, petting Cairo was a man I had **NEVER** seen before. I was standing by the knives and that was probably the only reason why I didn't freak out and call the police. Well I did freak out but I wasn't close enough to the phone to call the police.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded instead. "And how did you get in here!"

He rolled his eyes reminding me a lot of Sean while cosplaying as Kaiba. The hair matched. "Your keys and I'm the reason why you aren't in jail testing positive for illegal drugs right now."

I blinked. I didn't even use Tylenol when I had a headache. How did I get drugs into my system? "What drugs?"

"Who knows. Most likely LSD. Maybe even a little Flunitrazepam." He noticed the blank look on my face and said, "Date Rape pills."

I clutched the blanket tighter around me. "What?"

He ignored me as he looked me over with his soon to be stabbed out, glasses-covered, green eyes. "You turned down the Alpha fraternity and didn't expect any trouble?"

My body was shaking as I tried to piece things together. Okay. I had been drugged and had a weird dream. Unless it wasn't a dream but reality. A reality when I had nearly died and was brought back to my apartment by the guy in front of me who had taken my keys before passing out. Oh hell. What had happened while I had been passed out! I had locked my door but that didn't mean that I didn't unlock it later!

The man turned to look out the window. "Although drugging your drink before pushing you into oncoming traffic does seem a bit extreme even for the Alphas."

I didn't care about anything he was thinking about so I interrupted, "Did anything happen!"

He blinked at me as if he didn't understand the question. "A cop asked a few questions but I dragged you back here before you could get yourself into trouble."

I realized how stupid I was. If anything I would regret forever had happened, he wouldn't tell me.

However, he did continue talking, "You also sang some ridiculous song in Swedish ten times before passing out." He shrugged. "At least I assume that was what you were going since you were snoring and you had locked the door so no one could help you if you drowned in your own vomit."

I winced at the image. I still didn't have an answer but—

"And if you are worried, you aren't my type. I prefer actual woman."

If he didn't already remind me of Kaiba—Sean, he did then. However, at least I knew nothing had happened. However he was still in my apartment and I was still in a blanket and underwear. "Well thanks for the help. I guess you'll be going?"

He shook his head causing his brown hair to sway side to side. "The others will be here soon."

I paled. "Others?"

The man started to open his mouth when the front door to my apartment burst open causing my cats to run for cover.

"Sean! Is she alive? Is she okay? Is she awake?" shouted a blonde, gray eyed man who was followed by an upperclassman who I recognized. His blue eyes were apologetic under his brown hair as he looked at Martin who was spazzing.

The final members of Anime Addicts had arrived.

* * *

**A/N- This was my favourite chapter of this story. Can you tell? Also, I was not on drugs when I wrote this and I have never taken drugs so I have no idea what the world looks like when you take them. This is just my guess. And damn this was fun to write. At least the part where she was all drugged up. Thanks for reading!**

**-D101**


	5. A New Member Arrives

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 5**

_Suffocate. To need air. To be deprived of space. To drown in air. Suffocate. To need personal space or die!_

_The above describes me in a single word. Suffocated. Or in three words, dying for space. Since I had nearly died, Martin had gone WAY overprotective. Even out of costume he was following me around, making sure my food was tasted before I ate it, not letting me cross the streets unless there were no cars moving (I was nearly late for class this morning because of that.) After a week of this treatment, I feel I am justified to want some space! I mean it's sweet that Martin cares so much but demanding one of the guys be with me at all times is going a little far. He even created a schedule of who will stay at my apartment with me to keep guard. The worst part is that Andrew has agreed to help with Martin's plan. Thankfully, Sean has refused to take part. However…_

I paused to look around just to be sure that what I was writing was true. As I glanced around the schoolyard from my place in the tree (I finally decided to try Hiei's solution for space), I spotted two familiar upperclassmen sitting at a bench talking. Although they were both wearing sunglasses, I knew who they are and what they are doing. With a sigh, I turn back to my book.

_They are obviously still watching me. I can't tell it they are trying to be subtle or if they are just really bad at trailing me. The first time I spotted my 'stalkers' I was walking home. I would have called the police or ran into a store if one of them wasn't clearly Martin with James Bond's sunglasses. The other was a person who also as obviously didn't want to be there and was glaring at me over the rims of his sunglasses._

_To be honest, I could try shaking them so I can have a bit of space but the moment I do bad things will happen to me. Knowing me, I'd lose them and then get knifed. So, I've decided to behave and pretend that there is no one following me. I've also made it harder for the Alphas to get me by being a ninja and dodging behind pillars whenever I sense a threat… which is often. And this is the reason why Sean keeps telling me I look like an idiot even out of costume. However, I haven't been attacked again so it must be working. Also, today is a special day in the club. We're cross playing today and I have my costume all picked out. Of course I only found out about it yesterday but I am very happy with my choice. Now if only picking my special was so easy. I still don't know who to go as. Who is has personality traits that I share and want to build on that I'm not already cosplaying as?_

I stopped writing as my watch started ringing. Class ended fifteen minutes ago but I felt it was safer to move around the school after most of the students had returned to their rooming. So I hopped down from the tree in my all ninja glory and went to change. I had a feeling things would be rather amusing tonight.

*A*M*R*

"Welcome to the Anime addicts club room girls…" Under his carefully applied make-up Tamaki's, or rather Tomoko's, face changed from a confident if not flirty smile to that of complete confusion when she opened the door to see me.

Under a messy mop of yellow hair, I grinned and attempted a street accent. "Hey, I thought you said dat we were cross-playing today."

Tomoko's face changed from one of confusion to a sweet smile as he— she raised her camera. "Actually I meant the boys since we all had costumes. Such a shame. I had such a cute costume for Mona to try on today."

My noise of confusion and want to back away came out in perfect Jonouchi style. But I couldn't picture him tripping over his lose shoe laces like I did as I backed away. Thankfully the person who entered the room after me was kind enough to catch me.

As I turned to face the kind person I was surprised not to see a girl but instead Miroku wearing Sango clothing. I still thanked him before moving over to my chair and putting my feet on my desk. While Tomoko nicely asked Miroku what he was doing in Sango clothing, and he replied that he was cross-playing as Sango, I wondered who Sean would dress up as.

He couldn't really be anyone nice so that cut out most of the girls in anime. Queen Beryl or Queen Metallia from Sailor Moon could be a good fit, but I wasn't sure how long a villain would last in the club since everyone was a good guy. Would we start trying to kill the bad guy or just pretend that they are not a threat? The hardest part to picture would be Kaiba in a dress, but I had a good laugh about it while Tomoko tried to win an argument with Miroku that cross-playing as another character while already cos-playing was against the rules.

Finally, Sean arrived after five minutes as Kaiba. Since Tomoko and Miroku were still talking I was the only one to notice as I opened one eye to watch him enter. He in turn smirked and said, "Got your shoes at a dump, Wheeler?"

I had gotten my costume on short notice, but I would never resort to garbage jumping. Nor would Jonouchi stand for such insult! I jumped to my feet and said, "My name's Jonouchi, 4kids, and I got these at Walmart." My attempt at a manly voice failed when I became annoyed but the accent was still there.

His smirk widen as he said, "Really? Was the pet store out of the chewable type, mutt?"

"Why I oughta!" I took a step towards him and made a fist hoping that someone would stop me before I tried to punch him. I really didn't want to end up on the floor with a broken arm. Thankfully, Miroku noticed and stepped between us.

"Calm down gentleman. We don't have time to be fighting like this."

Tomoko nodded. "Sango…" She sighed as Miroku glanced in her direction. "Miroku is right. One of our members has broken the code and we have to fix the problem before something happens."

"Did the mutt forget to take a bath?"

Rather than try to throw a punch I took the second option available to me. Being quiet while I tried to think of a comeback… Which took longer than I thought because Miroku spoke up before I could say one.

"Actually the problem is with you. You're not wearing a cross-play costume."

Kaiba's smirk quickly turned into a frown. "I already told you clowns yesterday that I'm not going to cross-play."

The Joey in me couldn't help but say, "What's the matter, Pretty Boy? Don't look good in a skirt?"

He threw one of his special glares my way. "Better than you do in a dog costume."

I took another step forward and suddenly noticed the high difference. Maybe Ed would have been a better idea since Kaiba and Jonouchi were roughly the same height if Kaiba didn't wear platforms.

While I was spaced out, Tomoko pushed me to the side with a bunch of clothing in her arms. "But it's tradition."

Kaiba shook his head. "Not my problem and since I'm already in the room the only way to get me to cross-play is to get Kaiba to cross-play."

A grin came to my face as I slipped into a more feminine pose and changed the accent to a more British one. Standing up straight with my hips pushed to one side and my hands on my hips, I asked, "Oh really?"

Kaiba glanced in my direction, hesitated, and nodded.

It was my turn to grin as I reached into my blue jacket and pulled out the small notebook I always carried with me. "I think a little bit of blackmail would be more than enough to get Kaiba into a simple costume. Wouldn't you?"

His eyes narrowed. "Hang on Wheeler."

I waved my hand with the notebook and put it back in my jacket. "Sorry but I'm Botan cross-playing as Jonouchi. As the Grim Riper I have unlimited access to the Spirit World computers, which know everything about everyone. Especially you."

Kaiba scowled but knew that he had been beat. Even though I didn't really have any blackmail, the fact that I pretended to was enough. You have to love role-playing. Without another word, Tomoko descended with the clothing and I was sent to Room 445 to wait since there was little chance of Kaiba changing quietly.

It took twenty minutes to get Kaiba into the costume and when I entered the room I didn't have to fake the laugher. Glaring at me from the center of the room was a blue eyed Kagura from Inuyasha. I laughed until I sounded hysterical and was clutching the desks for support. The whole time Kagura glared at me, daring me to tell anyone about this event. Tomoko had her camera rolling so I felt better knowing that I wouldn't be the only one blamed if the school body ever found out about Kaiba's cross-play. Miroku probably would have been laughing too if he wasn't wincing in pain every time he started to laugh.

Finally we all finished laughing at Kagura's face and I slipped back into my Jonouchi cross-play. "So now what?"

Tomoko slowly put her camera down as she sat down at her desk. "Before we would do a skit in front of the school or play games."

Miroku shook his head as he rubbed his ribs. "I don't think we have enough people here for a skit. But we could play a game."

On Kagura's face a Kaiba glare appeared. "If you even think about suggesting Duel Monsters, I'll make you wish you were never born."

Miroku smiled. "Now now Kagura. I'm sure Sesshomaru will be back soon so you'll be able to leave but until then, just try to have fun."

I nodded and casually pointed at Kagura. "I'm with her. I left my deck at home."

Tomoko moved from her desk to the shelves of desks to look around for a game. "Well we could play cards like crazy eights or go fish."

Miroku became wide eyed as he said, "What sort of game is that?"

I shook my head as Tomoko started to explain to Miroku the simple rules of the card games. Running a mental inventory of all the animes and mangas I had ever read, I tried to remember what games had appeared. Yugioh was virtually dominated by Duel Monsters and role-playing games. Inuyasha didn't have anything I remembered. Card Captor Sakura only had modern games. Dragon Ball was too busy fighting to have games. Ushio and Tora was too busy for games too. Yu Yu Hakusho had pachinko and rock, paper, scissors, but the first game needed a machine and the second was too familiar to play.

"What about Go?"

We all turned to Kagura as we pondered her suggestion. My first question was, "What's 'go'?"

"It's a game that originated from China," Miroku explained before turning to Kagura. "You can only play with one other person though."

Kagura shrugged. "We could have a tournament."

Tomoko frowned. "We don't have a Go board. But we have a Shogi one."

"Any pieces for it?" Miroku asked.

She shook her head and I spotted a small board looking down at us from the top shelf. "Why not that game?" I asked as I pointed at the box.

Everyone looked up at the box but Kagura was the one to reach for it. When she placed it on the ground we saw that it was a homemade Monopoly with Japanese characters all over the board. I didn't even bother to try to figure out what the words said because Miroku was quick to translate.

"It says that the game is played just like American Monopoly but instead we buy Japanese places such as Tokyo."

Kagura frowned. "I remember this game. The guy who always cos-played as Yugi's grandpa made it."

Tomoko frowned. "Didn't you steal all the money once?"

He shook his head. "No. That was the Vash cross-player."

I looked around the group before I opened the box and started to lay out the game. My eyes instantly fell on a small object that looked like the statue of a dog. "I'll be this piece."

Kagura smirked. "It matches you."

I let the remark go and waited for the others to pick their objects. Miroku picked a statue of Daibutsu or the Great Buddha. Kagura picked Mount Fuji and Tomoko was left with grabbing an anime pin because the game was missing pieces. After a bit of an argument, Miroku was chosen to be in charge of the bank and we were off. For fun, we added rules as we went. To get out of jail you had to do a dare or answer a question. If you wanted to buy a place from someone you would have to land on it and then bargain. That was probably the funniest part to watch because more often than not you would have two stubborn people bargaining and they would just keep naming numbers until they got to the middle.

Actually, Kagura and I were part way through bargaining for Daitokuji Temple when someone knocked on the door. Since Kagura and I were locked in a staring contest and Tomoko was filming us, Miroku was left to get the door. Probably a good thing since a boy wearing a girl sailor uniform with unshaved legs would be sure to freak anyone to insanity.

After introducing himself, he moved aside to let the person in. At that point, I finally gave into Kagura's price, bought the temple, and noticed our visitor. She had blonde hair, blue eyes, and as she looked down on us and the game, I felt shivers go down my spine. It took me a moment before I recognized her as the girl with the Saiyuki pin before she removed it. Somehow, that didn't make me feel any better. I felt almost like I was Kaoru from Rurouni Kenshin and she was Megumi. She wasn't looking down on me or laughing behind her hand at my naivety but I had the feeling she wasn't to be trusted.

While Kagura and I continued playing, Tomoyo and Miroku explained the club to the new girl. They also introduced themselves with their real names and I overheard that the girl's name was June Kneller. After that, Miroku questioned June about her personality and such. She said that she saw herself as being like Megumi from Rurouni Kenshin. She said something about how she was misunderstood and really empathized with the character. Privately, I wondered how you could empathize with Megumi but I didn't like the character in the first place so I kept my mouth shut. She changed in the costume quickly and without help, I noticed before sitting down beside me.

"I'm Megumi," she said.

I tried to smile. After all, she was a member of the club and just because I didn't like the character didn't mean I didn't like June… right? "Jonouchi," I replied. "You ever play Monopoly?"

She shook her head with a small smile. "No. It sounds interesting."

Now normally, I would have left the other boys explain the rules but **I** was the only boy besides Miroku and he was distracted so I was stuck explaining. It turned out Megumi was quite the player. She knocked me out of the game within minutes but then the game started to drag on as the boy-girls tried to keep rich. With little else to do, I looked through our manga collection but I couldn't find anything that could hold my attention.

Since the game showed no signs of ending, I decided to go to the washroom and wet my face. I didn't realized just how warm a blue coat and T-shirt could be so my face was flushed from the heat. The water running from the tap was refreshing so I took my time. The club probably wouldn't even notice I had disappeared. My stomach turned over at the thought. After all, this was how my vanishing act had started. My friends had started to hang out with new people and I just vanished. Part of me always wondered if it was because I didn't fight for my friends but I think it was more we were just growing up. However, I was worried that the same thing might happen with Megumi. Something about her just seemed off.

To my left the washroom door opened and I turned. Standing there was Megumi and she was smiling. I said hi and she nodded as she stood beside me at the sinks.

"So Andrew didn't tell me your name," she asked me as she opened her makeup purse.

I nodded. "It's Mona."

"Have you been in the club long?"

I shook my head as she started to put on some lipstick. "Not too long. I joined in October."

"It seems like a fun club."

"Yeah. Although usually the boys are dressed as boys."

She started to put on eyeliner and she watched my reflection. "They seem really sweet."

I shrugged. "I'd watch out for Kagura though. She can be really nasty. Especially when he cosplays as Kaiba."

Megumi smiled. "Thanks for the warning. To be honest, I expected you to be meaner. I'm surprised you're so willing to share."

"What do you mean?"

She chuckled behind her hand. "Well a raw metal surrounded by tempered steels; it's every girl's dream."

I shook my head. "I don't see how."

Megumi placed her makeup back into her purse. "Then you won't mind if I take them will you?"

I frowned. "Wait a second, what?"

She turned to face me. "Surely you aren't so dense, Mona. This is university. Do you really think anyone is here to study?"

"Then what are you here for?"

She smiled. "Why to play of course. But do me a favour and stay out of my way." Megumi smiled at me as she walked to the door of the washroom. "I wouldn't want you to get hurt."

I frowned. "How would that happen?"

She paused in the doorway. "A trip. A fall. An accident. It's so easy to vanish here."

My eyes widened at the word 'vanish' and she smiled again. "I hope we will be great friends, Mona," she said. "Just remember the boys are mine."

She left me then and I was left wondering if I should tell the boys or not.

* * *

**A/N: The ending is a little weak but I liked it over all. Thanks for reading.**

**-D101**


	6. And Then There Were Four

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 6  
**

_Hiding. Hiding from what? From fear? From truth? From pain? From people? I didn't know anymore. On the surface the club seems the same as ever. June created her special costume in under a week and it was amazing, She had the prefect Sango costume. All the guys agreed and soon she was Haruhi too. I not really sure what Sango, Megumi, and Haruhi have in common but June seems to make it work. The only thing that never changes from costume to costume is the way she makes me feel like Karou. I just feel useless around her. None of the guys seem to notice though because I'm careful to cosplay as Botan. What better way to cover something up than with a smile? I just wish I didn't have to cover up at all._

I pause in my writing to look around. June was nowhere in sight but a group of Alpha pledges were. I crawled up higher into the branches of the tree. The last thing I needed was a run in with them. Unfortunately, I had club in fifteen minutes and unless they moved soon I would either be late or spotted. Sighing, I returned to my writing.

_But this is the weird thing. June seems to like me. I mean even out of club she takes time to check in with me. She offers to help me out with Japanese 101 (but I decline.) She acts really nice to me but I don't trust her. I don't get it. What is going on?_

The Alphas had moved so I jumped down from the tree and quickly made my way to the washroom. June may have been making me feel useless but tonight was my night I decided. Not only was I able to find everything I wanted for my "special" costume but I didn't go broke in the progress. As I slipped on my sunglasses and rearranged my blue hair, I knew I was ready. I couldn't wait to see the boys' reactions. They were totally going to flip when they saw how me my costume was. After all, who was more stubborn and authoritative than Bulma from Dragon Ball Z? And with luck no one would remember how boy crazy she was.

After checking to be sure that I had my dragon ball radar safely tucked into a pocket and a hand full of capsules in my other pocket, I walked out the door. Since it was windy the boys wouldn't question me about my coat and probably think that I was being Botan because of the blue wig. Kaiba would probably make a rude remark and then I'd show him.

I barely even noticed the bite of the cold wind on my skin as I made my way to room 444. I knocked once before entering as I usually did.

The room was dead. None of the lights were on, not even the one we used to let the other students know were in the building and not to sent the alarm on us. I shrugged off those facts and turned on the lights. I was early so the others probably hadn't arrived yet, I reasoned. After taking off my jacket and hanging it up, I sat down in my chair. Pulling a manga off the shelf, I sat and waited.

When I had finished the manga 15 minutes later, no one had appeared. Since the manga had left off at a cliff-hanger I grabbed the next one and continued to read. This pattern continued for an hour until I reached a gap in the manga. Still no one had come. By this time all excitement in me had shrunk to disappointment. I still had an essay at home to work on as the note on my hand reminded me so I couldn't afford to wait. However, I stared at my watch for an additional five minutes before I stood up. I couldn't wait any longer, but I really wanted the other guys to see my costume. Taking a marker from the white board, I wrote a note to the gang telling them to call me. Capping the marker, I grabbed my coat.

As I was slipping it on, the door open and a dishevelled Tamaki rushed in. He stared at me for a second before saying, "What are you doing here?"

I frowned. "I thought we were meeting here tonight."

He also frowned. His purple eyes wide. "But June said that she told you to meet us at the park."

"What park?"

Something shoved against the door and Tamkai's face paled. He pointed to the curtained area. "Hide there and don't come out!"

"But—"

He shook his head. "Now!"

I can't say why I obeyed him. Maybe it was the noises of people trying to make down the door. Or maybe it was just Tamaki's fear.

The door gave way just as I dashed into hiding. From the hole in the curtain, I watched as four huge thugs entered the room. They must have come off the streets because I didn't recognize any of them. Once again I wished I had a cell phone so that I could call for the police but I didn't. Instead I sat and listened.

"You guys must think I'm pretty though if you need all four or you to defeat me," Tamaki said as he moved behind a desk.

The biggest of the four grinned and cracked his knuckles. "Actually we're just here for a girl."

"That must be some girl for four fine gentlemen like yourselves to come here looking for her."

"Worth 50 dollars."

"Does she owe you money or something?"

The thug's grin made my stomach turn over and play dead. "Yeah. Or something."

From my spot in hiding I watched as Tamaki grabbed the handle of one of the fake swords behind his back. "She must be real special if you guys are doing this for so little."

The leader shook his head. "Nah." He lunged forward. "I'd do it for free!"

Tamaki dodged to the side and whacked the thug hard over the head with the sword. Jumping back, Tamaki said, "A gentleman should never hurt a lady!"

The punch came out of nowhere and Tamaki was suddenly on the floor. Fear clutched at my belly as I watched them crowd around him and tears started to appear in my eyese. I always had dreams about what I would do if I found myself witnessing a crime. I always thought that I would jump in and fight but now my legs were like jelly. This wasn't a dream. This was reality.

Two goons forced Tamaki to his feet while the leader grinned at him.

"We were only supposed to get the girl," he said. "But I think I can convince our sponsor that this was necessary." He then walked over to our shelves and picked up the only real wooden staff we had. As he raised it over his head, I closed my eyes. Sick with fear and my actions, I listened as the monster attacked my friend and hit him once.

My eyes shot open as Tamaki gasped in pain. This was reality and I refused to act like a coward! When the monster raised the staff again, I raised one of our Japanese school bags that I had slipped a sheet of metal into while explaining the opening of a shojo manga called "Dear School Gang Leader." Lifting the bag with all my strength I brought it down on his head.

"Take this!" I yelled for good measure.

Fortunately, the attack stopped the goon from hitting Tamaki again. Unfortunately, it didn't stop the jerk in his tracks. He turned to glare at me and I knew I was dead. If he wasn't already planning on killing me, he was going to now.

I started to take a step back and Tamaki yelled at me to run. My legs froze and I watched as the other free thug lunged at me. I whacked him with the bag but then he grabbed it and took it from me. No weapon, and no ability to move. I was screwed.

The first punch caused me to take another step back but the kick knocked me to the ground.

"Not so feisty are you now, girly?" the hit leader for hire asked as he stood over me.

Behind him Tamaki was struggling against the grips of his two holders. "You cowards! Picking on a little girl!"

The next kick landed somewhere on my ribs causing me to cry out.

"Leave her alone! Attack me but leave her alone!"

The next kick hurt more and I curled into a ball. The leader continued to kick me for minutes. Then a pair of hands forced me to my feet. I closed my eyes and waited. The punches continued where the kicks left off until finally there was a pause. I tried to ignore the tears of fear running down my cheeks. Was this really how my life was going to end? Or was I just going to be beaten so badly that I'd be an invalid for life? The thug moved and I stiffened, waiting for the next punch. It came but I wasn't the one who received it.

At Tamaki's gasp my eyes opened and I saw him clutching his stomach through my tears. "You bastards," he gasped.

The leader turned to face me and pulled a small army knife out of his pocket. He pointed it at Tamaki. "Him first. Then you." He stared at my face for a moment before turning his back to me and moving towards Tamaki.

Have you ever had a dream where you couldn't scream or couldn't run away fast enough? Do you remember the terror you felt? How certain you were that you were going to die? I felt that and worse because Tamaki was going to die as well. Online I had read a story where the heroine had tried to talk her murderer out of killing her. It didn't work for her, but I prayed it would work for me.

"Don't you realize you can go to jail for this or even face the death penalty?"

He paused to turn back to me. "Only if they prove it."

"They'll prove it! You've left evidence all over this room and that camera," I nodded up to the corner, "is recording." I was lying about the camera but I had to try. Then the man did something I didn't expect. He grinned.

"Sorry girl but I didn't mean evidence. You see, I'm crazy." He made a big show of giving me a vacant-eyed grin. "I didn't know what I was doing your honour but I swear I'll get cleaned up. I never want to kill anyone ever again." He laughed and more blood drained from my face because he was right.

He stared for a few more minutes before turning back to Tamaki. "Now this is going to hurt a lot," he said.

"I thought I told you to stay away from us, Jack," a low, savage voice said.

The gang member holding me turned so that he and I could see the speaker. Standing in the doorway was Kaiba and Kurama but not as I knew them to be. Kaiba was silent and glaring while Kurama was filled with unholy wrath and seemed to be barring his fangs.

Jack just grinned and waved the knife around. "Looks like you didn't scare me enough, Drew."

Kurama nodded. "I'll have to fix that."

My mind couldn't process what happened next. Kurama truly seemed like a demon as he took down all four boys in a matter of minutes. After they were on the ground, groaning, he started kicking them and didn't stop until Kaiba forcibly pulled him away, allowing the goons to run away claiming vengeance. Kaiba then ordered Kurama to see to Tamaki, which seemed to calm him down. Finally, Kaiba turned to me. The saying is 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scoured' but it really should be changed to Sean.

Vaguely, I realized I was sitting on the ground because my legs had given out. I also realized that the room was blurry through my tears of fear but I was fully aware of the slap that preceded Kaiba's words.

"This is your fault."

"Kaiba!"

Both of us turned to look at Tamaki who was still clutching his ribs as he stood, supported by Kurama. "You shouldn't act like that towards a lady!"

Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Cut the act, Martin! If this girl hadn't joined, you wouldn't be clutching your ribs right now. A girl who can't defend herself is worthless."

"It's not an act, Sean! I'm being serious! Do you think I would have defended her if I didn't think Mona was worth it? Mona didn't ask for this to happen and this just proves that she's on our side! Open your eyes! Mona is nothing like your sister Ash—"

"Shut up!"

"You need to listen! This is the second time Mona's been attacked! Don't you think that means something!"

"It means we were fools for ever letting her into this club."

Andrew, who had been looking between the two feuding friends, finally spoke. "Sean, sit down."

For a second, Sean glared at Andrew. Unspoken words passed between the two and slowly Sean's glare declined into narrowed eyes as he sat down.

Andrew then helped Martin into a chair before sitting down at his desk. Only I remained where I sat. The room was silent, and I could still half-sense the pain of my beating and Sean's slap. He was right though. I was responsible for the attack on Tamaki. If I had led them away instead of attacking Jack, then they would have left Tamaki alone. Or if I could defend myself, I could have taken them down like Andrew had. Now I was left to wonder what I could do now. Quitting seemed like the best option and yet I knew it would cause another battle. The last thing I wanted was to be the person who broke up three close friends… Actually, the last thing I wanted to do was leave the club but that was selfish. All the same I wasn't sure what else to do, so I kept quiet and waited for something to happen.

What happened was the untimely arrival of June.

She wandered in wearing clubbing wear (clothing wore when one goes to nightclubs). With her pink tube shirt and black miniskirt, she really stood out. However, her smile made me want to crawl into a deep, dark hole and die.

"So this is where you all ran off to," she said. "Glad you found…" She blinked. "Who are you anyways?"

I hid a wince as I pulled myself to my feet. My wig had fallen off at some point so I picked it up. "Someone who was just leaving, I guess." As I passed her to grab my coat, she grabbed my shoulder.

"Now that's no fun," she said with a frown before she paused. "Speaking of no fun, why didn't you meet us at the park?"

I shook her hand off my shoulder. "I never got your message, I guess. All the better for four thugs to find me and attack Martin though." Ignoring her frown, I turned to the boys. "Sean's right and I'll take responsibility for my actions. I'll return my costumes tomorrow." With a stiff, formal bow to my waist, I added, "Sorry for the trouble and thank you for everything."

June gasped behind me as I straightened. "You're quitting?"

I nodded. "Yes." Suddenly I found myself in a rib-crushing hug.

"I'll walk you home one last time then," she said with a smile that made me feel ever worse.

Kurama shook his head. "Actually June, Mona, can you wait a moment before leaving?"

I nodded and sat down at my desk for the last time. There hadn't been any ritual for leaving the club in the code but the three boys had probably made one up once they were alone in the club. June also sat at her desk and started playing with her hair. The boys said nothing.

A minute passed and I slowly zoned out to a point where I was staring at the wall behind Tamaki and imagining what would happen if Vampire Hunter D was stuck babysitting a teenaged, gun fighting, quarter-vampire. I barely noticed when we had been sitting for five minutes.

When we neared the ten minutes mark, the silence was broken.

June glared at all of us before saying, "Are you going to make us wait for an hour before we can leave?"

All three of the boys blinked as if they were coming out of a trance. Tamaki was the first to reply. "Of course not, beautiful lady. We just wanted to wait long enough for the thugs you hired to get tired of waiting."

June frowned. "What goons?"

Tamaki smiled. "Why the ones you hired to attack defenceless, helpless—"

"Pathetic," Kaiba added, without looking at me.

Tamaki glared at him. "And wonderful Mona."

I blinked, owl-eyed, as I watched the situation unfold around me. It was almost like I was in a courtroom watching a trial. But with less lawyers and no judge.

June shook her head. "Why would I want to attack sweet Mona?"

"Why wouldn't you?"

To the sadness of my depleting ego, it was Kurama who asked her the question. He looked her in the eye and said, "You always like to be the center of attention. And with Mona here there would always be another girl to fight against for attention. Isn't that why you picked costumes who were paired with our characters?"

June shook her head. "You were the ones who picked the customs for me."

Kurama nodded. "But we asked you who you were most like."

"And you agreed."

He shook his head. "Our club is about self-expression. If you saw yourself as being like that, we could not object. Of course, you don't really see yourself this way do you? All the make-up and glamour. Those were just the tools the dean told you to use."

My eyes widened as June leaned forward. "How do you know about that?"

Kurama smiled a cruel smile. "I didn't but now I do." He pointed to the door. "You may leave and tell the dean or your failure."

Like a puppet, June rose from her seat looking at all of us. For a second, she looked like she was going to lunge for me. Instead she walked to the door. Her hand was on the doorknob when Kaiba's voice rang through the room.

"And June, tell that woman that the idiot won't be leaving our club without an escort."

The slam on the door shook the whole building but it cemented something in our group. I glanced in Sean's direction as June left and saw him glance back. I wasn't sure how I had done it but I had impressed him.

Before, when I confined to Andrew about Sean's behaviour, he had told me that it was Sean's way of testing people to see if they would disappoint him or not. Andrew had promised that once Sean realized that I wasn't going to back down, he would switch from testing to friend treatment. As I started before, I have no idea how I had managed to impress him since I was about to quit the club but I was glad.

As much as Sean couldn't stand me and as much as he angered me, I was now one of the guys.

* * *

**A/N: Sorry about the name thing. I haven't really mastered the art of switching between names for characters. If anyone has any suggestions on the topic, that would be awesome. Thanks for reading!**

**-D101**


	7. And Then There Were Three

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 7  
**

_Change. A difference in being or state. Change. A new way of doing. Change. It's subtle but there is a change at Hearth. I just wish I could say it was for the better. The Alphas have let up on their 'pranks' on me. Mrs. Fujimoto has stopped singling me out in class. My marks are good. On the surface everything looks fine. But it isn't._

_Yesterday I was wandering around the school when I stumbled across something in Room 130. Girls in costumes. Actually, costume isn't the right word. Well maybe it is but it doesn't seem to match. I've been a fan of American comic books heroes since I was little so I recognized the people in front of me instantly. Although I wasn't sure if I was looking at Superman or Super girl, Batman or Batgirl, and Hawkman or Hawk girl. (Why is it when there are girl versions of male heroes they always take the suffix girl?)_

_All four girls had stopped and stared at me when I opened the door. Wonder Woman had been battling with Hawk person when I entered and they had frozen with Hawk's punch caught in Wonder's hand. I was the first to speak._

"_Hi," I said. "I didn't know there was a DC club here."_

_From her place in front of a computer Bats said, "It was an American comic book club but all our Marvels got brainwashed."_

_I didn't have class until after lunch so I stepped into the room and closed the door. "I'm Mona."_

"_Batgirl."_

"_Super Girl."_

"_Hawk Girl."_

"_Wonder Woman."_

_I nodded. "So you're all that's left?"_

_Wonder nodded as she sat down. "Hearth took everyone else. However," she leaned forward and narrowed her eyes at me, "you don't seem very surprised."_

_I shrugged, not the least intimidated. "I'm from Room 444."_

_That meant nothing to them so I explained. "An anime club."_

_That meant something to them because under her mask, Hawk's eyes widened. "You mean that with Mrs. Fujimoto's son?"_

_I nodded. "I have the battle scars to prove it."_

_Super Girl leaned over from her place on top of the teacher's desk. "So you were the one who was nearly hit by a semi."_

_I winced. "Yeah. In my defence, my tea had been messed with."_

"_Alphas?"_

"_I sorta turned them down."_

_Bats smiled. "I made the same mistake and was branded as trouble ever since. Teachers hate me."_

_I grinned as I sat down. Somehow I felt as at home in room 130 as I did in room 444. "Speaking of that, did you notice how this school seems out to kill people who don't really fit in?"_

_The girls didn't seem to have the rules about coming out of character because Wonder rolled her eyes. "Duh. Why do you think we hid in here instead of battling on the lawn?"_

_The other girls nodded in agreement. Hawk leaned forward and put a hand to the side of her mouth. "I heard that fifty years ago Hearth was actually an art school. The best in the area even but then they went bankrupt and some hotshot business guy turned it into a business college and made it the best university in the country."_

_I frowned. "Isn't that a good thing?"_

_Hawk shook her head. "For the robots they make, maybe but I prefer to think for myself and that makes us dangerous. Anyone who still thinks could jeopardize the rep of the school so…" She pretended to slit her throat with her right hand._

_Wonder nodded. "Our current dean is the worse though. My dad went to Hearth and in those days they would just kick you out but more and more of us are their best students so we have to removed."_

_I nodded. "Some universities will do anything to keep their rep."_

_Sups leaned back to lie down on her desk. "If I didn't want a good paying job, I'd have left a long time ago."Suddenly she sat up again and grinned. "So Mona who's your favourite superhero?"_

_There was no hesitation on my part. "Batman."_

_Bats punched the air. "Yes!" she said with a laugh._

_I just blinked, unsure of what was going on. We talked for a little while longer before I left to get lunch. For the rest of the day I was amazed that I had found some people out of club who I could talk to who weren't trying to kill me. In fact, I made a mental note to keep in contact with the girls. Rebels have to stick together after all._

I closed my notebook and hopped down from my tree once I had finished writing. The Alphas may have been leaving me alone, but I was well aware of the saying the calm before the storm. I kept close to the pillars in front of the school to avoid not only water balloons but also plants and beer bottles falling from windows. The boys had given me a couple of survival tips based on their own experiences. However, I had yet to quash the polite instinct in me that caused me to stop and look around when someone called out to me. So far that habit had not caused me any grief but I knew it eventually would.

"Hey freshman."

I paused behind a pillar as my ears adjusted to hearing the word 'freshman' instead of 'raw metal.' A man in at least second year came up to me wearing a jacket supporting the Hearth cheerleading team. The oddest thing about the man (other than him calling me a freshman) was his hair. It was either naturally white or bleached really well. His eyes had to be covered by contacts though because they were a demonic red. I probably should have started running but I was too curious to move.

"You're one of those people from room 444, right?" he asked as we stood behind the pillar.

Mind still filled with the thought of my talk with the girls, I hesitated. "Did one of the guys talk to you or something?" I asked as I tried to figure out his angle.

He nodded as he put his hands in his pockets. "Said his name was Tam… something and that I should talk to you about the club because he was busy."

I nodded, wondering when I had become the go-to person. "Okay."

Thankfully, the upperclassman didn't beat around the brush because if I had been in control of the conversation, I doubted we would have ever gotten to the point.

"The blonde said that the club was probably my girlfriend's style since she is really into Inuyasha."

I couldn't help but blurt out, "Oh."

He rolled his eyes. "You were wondering about the hair."

"And the eyes," I admitted.

He shrugged. "I only put up with it since I forced her to dye her hair black and wear purple."

I nodded. "So are you into anime too?"

"Not really. I prefer American comic books. Kayla does too but we couldn't find anyone else who does."

I smiled. "Did you try room 130?"

He frowned. "What's in there?"

I glanced around to make sure that no one was listening. The place was deserted. "Just go over there with Kayla and say Mona sent you."

He stared at me for a moment before shrugging. As he turned to walk away, he paused and turned back. "Some other guy named Kurama also wanted me to tell you to go to room 444 at lunch for a meeting."

"Did he say why?"

The guy shook his head. "Just said come in costume."

I nodded and we went our ways. I went to class and once again everything seemed fine. I was even proud of myself for helping out the other club but I couldn't help but wonder why Andrew had called a meeting during the middle of the day.

*A*M*R

My good mood managed to last until club when I slipped into a blue skirt, brown wig, pink shirt, and blue contacts for my Anzu (Tea Gardner) costume. As I stepped into room 444, my good mood was stabbed and died.

From his place in the far left corner of the room Kurama was glaring at Sean. He wasn't in costume and he wasn't reading. Sean was just sitting with his arms crossed and eyes closed. They didn't even open when I entered the room. Part of me wondered if Andrew and Sean had a disagreement but that wouldn't explain Sean's costumeless state.

I said hello as I sat down at my desk but neither of the boys noticed my presence. Completely lost, I pulled out my homework and started studying. Mid-terms were coming up and I wanted to say I at least tried to pass Jap 101 even though I probably wouldn't. I was trying to remember basic kanji when Martin burst down the door, gray eyes blazing.

"Is it true?" he demanded.

Sean nodded but because his eyes were closed he was unable to avoid Martin grabbing his collar and hauling him to his feet.

"You always came down on Ashley for leaving and now you are going to do the same thing?"

My jaw dropped. "Sean's leaving?"

Kurama nodded. "Apparently his mother offered him a deal he could not refuse."

Sean was silent but he removed Martin's hands from his collar with ease. Martin's hands were shaking I noticed.

"What's so important that you would abandon your friends?"

Sean spoke now and I had a feeling he was barely holding back from saying what he wanted. "I wouldn't expect you children to understand."

Kurama's eyes narrowed. "And you are an adult?"

"Someone has to be. We can't all live with a safety net, Mr. Brock."

"As the bastard, I suppose you feel you have no net."

Sean was shaking with rage but he didn't attack Kurama. Instead he left. Vanished out the door. I wasn't sure what I was thinking as I followed Sean. I wasn't even sure if I **was** thinking. Maybe I had developed a personality problem from cosplaying. Regardless, I followed Sean as Anzu most likely would have.

He heard me coming and paused in the shadows behind the building. "What do you want, Deaden?"

I wasn't sure but if I didn't speak, he wouldn't give me time to figure it out. "An explanation," I said.

His eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"For leaving the club. You can't just leave and not tell us why."

"I thought you were smart enough to figure it out on your own. I left to join student council."

"So you're leaving your friends for people you don't even like?"

"This isn't high school. I have two years left here before I'm gone. Do you think any employer will care if I was part of a lame club?"

"And they'll care if you're on student council?"

Sean nodded. "The connections you make here can make or break you."

I glared at him. "So it's all about work."

"That's what we are here for. To learn how to survive in the workforce."

"University is to learn more about yourself and your chosen path in life."

"Are you really that naïve, Mona?"

I was silent. A gust of wind blew through the school tossing up stray papers in its path and the sun ducked behind a cloud. Sean was glaring at me.

"The only reason people bother with each other is because it benefits them," he said. "The only reason people bother to get higher education is to get a higher paying job. The only reason people do anything is to get ahead. I suggest you learn that quickly before you get eaten." He started to walk pass me and towards the front doors. As he passed, he added, "And if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from me."

Before I could say anything, he had moved on. For a moment I simply stood, absorbing what Sean had said. I had expected the response and thought I had prepared for it but I hadn't prepared for the anger that was welling up in me. The same anger had gotten me into trouble many times before but I couldn't stop it from overflowing.

I turned on my heel. I was going to make him change his mind if it was the last thing I did. Some little voice in my head might have said I was being suicidal but I didn't notice. I walked towards the doors and when I spotted him I called out his name. Sean paused on the front steps to the university and slowly turned. The glares he had sent my way before were nothing compared to the one he sent in my direction then, but I had learned that his glares meant nothing as Kaiba and they would mean nothing as Sean.

"Sean!" I repeated as I pointed at him. "I challenge you to a bet!"

He continued to glare and I slowly became aware of the hundred of students who had paused on their way to class to watch this insane challenge. I could feel my fear sipping into my mind, but I summoned all my strength and stubbornness to push it back. I was still wearing my costume. I was not Mona. I was Mona's choice of self-expression. I ignored the many eyes as I pointed at him, an angry scowl on my face.

"Mid-term exams are coming up. If I pass my Japanese exam, you will rejoin the club."

Sean blinked and nodded. "And if you fail?"

The thought hadn't occurred to me, but I went with a usually fail-safe answer. "I'll do whatever you want for a month— within moral and legal boundaries."

He shook his head. "Childish."

I swallowed as my scowl turned into a worried frown. "What do you suggest?"

He smirked. "First, you will not have to pass your exam; you will have to get a prefect score. If you fail, you will have to give up manga and animes and anything connected to the two until you die."

The yard was silent as my anger froze and turned into gut-stabbing, dry swallowing fear. A pass would be enough of a stretch since I was currently failing the course. I doubted I even had a 20%. A perfect score was impossible but…

I took a deep breath.

Impossible only became possible though risks.

"You're on."

My fate was sealed.

**A/N: Yeah Mona isn't too bright. Thanks for reading and reviewing!**

**-D101**


	8. No News is Good News

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 8  
**

_Drowning. The water jumps over my head as I struggle to reach upwards. Chains around my ankles cut into flesh, no blood yet but I know it will come. The weight of fear pulls me down deeper and deeper. The water covers my head as I sink. My lungs are empty and I can feel myself starting to gasp. The chain cut deeper and my blood turns the water red. My arms thrash around, reaching for help, for land, for hope. Only water is slapped as I move. My legs are uselessly weighed down by fear and boulders. They have no energy left to kick. The water turns black and I cannot see light anymore. My lungs are burning and water is entering my nose causing it to burn as well._

_I am alone._

_I am finished._

_I am doomed._

_That was how I am feeling as I try to cram every little detail about Japan into my head. Actually maybe about to explode would describe me better than drowning. My head is killing me and I keep switching up little details. Why did I make that challenge?_

I push my book away after writing a quick note in an attempt to distress. As I picked up another reference book and started to flip through I realized it wasn't working. The test was literally a week away and I was not even prepared enough to get 2% percent on it. Andrew and Martin had offered to help but I refused. If I was going to win, I wanted to win because of my efforts alone. However, it appeared that those efforts were going to get me killed. I couldn't remember the last time I had slept for more than two hours in a forty-eight hours period. Facts kept swimming in and out of my head and I knew how Kagome felt when she was cramming. Actually, since the only safe place to study on campus was room 444, I was practically living there in my cosplay as Kagome. (It was the only way Martin would leave me alone so I could study.)

The clock over the door ticked, counting down to the time before my test. A week to go and I didn't even have a firm grasp on the basics. I was so screwed.

Thankfully, my other classes were on hold for a bit because of some teacher having a mental breakdown or something. I didn't bother to remember the reason why but it was good because I could focus on Jap 101. I had to pass that test! I had to!

Slowly I realized I was staring at the surface of my desk where my reference book should have been. I looked and spotted Miroku.

"Maybe you should take a nap," he said as he held my book just out of my reach.

Lack of sleep did wonders on my temper but I couldn't waste time thinking about that. "Miroku, give me that book now," I hissed as I reached for it.

He stepped back so that I had to move out from behind my desk. Fire might as well been coming from my mouth as I shouted, "Damn it Andrew! Give me that damn book!"

Umino added his two cents as I started chasing Miroku around the room. "Lack of sleep can cause many problems. Did you know that 1,500 people die from car accidents caused by fatigue?"

I ignored him. "Give me that book!"

Miroku smiled nervously. "Now now. It's for your own good, Kagome."

"Good my ass! Give me that book!"

It was at that moment a girl entered room 444 and watched me try to murder Miroku. At least I would have been killing him if I could have gotten a hold on him. Unfortunately, he was too quick for me. He ducked around a desk and used it to block me. It was then that we noticed the girl standing in the doorway. Miroku and I paused in our shenanigans to stare at the small girl with beautiful red hair and puppy dog sweet brown eyes. She started shifting from foot to foot while Miroku and I stared. Finally, I realized someone should say something. Unfortunately, Miroku had the same idea. He handed me my book and walked up to the poor girl. Not even batting an eyelash he said, "Hello, would you consider bearing my child?"

I threw my book at him. He caught it and waved it so that I could see he had it. I was about to return to murdering him when the girl spoke.

"I'm looking for Mona Deaden please?" her voice had faded to nothing by the time she hit my last name but I've heard my name enough to know when I'm being called.

After sending Miroku a silent promise to fix him later, I turned my attention to the girl. "That's me. Can I help you?"

Behind me Umino started raving about the code of addicts and never coming out of character but I ignored him. The girl looked ready to faint which made me wonder just how bad I looked. I mean I hadn't really brushed my hair in a week but I didn't think it looked bad enough to send a fellow freshman into a fit. The girl was blushing and tearing her bag to pieces looking for something. Finally, she handed me a piece of paper. I took it and nearly died when I saw it was a newspaper article with a picture from a cell phone showing me challenging Sean. The headline made me want to crawl into a hole and die.

"School nut challenges dean's son," Umino read over my shoulder.

He didn't have time to run as I grabbed the front of his shirt. "You didn't tell me Sean was related to the dean!"

Umino winched. "Well you never really asked."

I started shaking him. "What else are you guys hiding from me! Is the world really flat or something?"

"Well Sean and Andrew are half-siblings and Andrew's dad is the dean."

"I guessed that!"

Behind Umino Miroku frowned and removed a cup from my desk. "Maybe we should skip this hyper potion."

I released Umino and pointed at Miroku. "Put the cup down and I don't send you to the hospital!"

He did but that was after chucking it in the garbage can. I was about to return to killing him when he pointed behind him. "I believe the lady has some things to ask you."

I blinked as I slowly remembered about the other girl in the room. Feeling my own face colour with embarrassment, I bowed to the girl. "Sorry. I didn't mean to ignore you!"

The girl started to flush as she waved off my apology. "It's okay," she said. "I'm from the school newspaper and I wanted to…" Her voice trailed into nothing.

My hearing was about as good as my eyesight (not very) so I was left tilting my head. "Pardon?"

The girl was turning the same colour as Kurama's hair in the anime. "Well I wanted to ask you…" Again her voice disappeared.

Sensing that sighing would be rude, I turned to my desk. "How about we sit down?"

She nodded and sat down in one of the chairs Miroku had set out. Meanwhile, I sent the two men out on an errand for more coffee and a threat of death if I didn't get it. Once the door closed behind the men, the girl seemed to feel better because she sighed and her face stopped changing colours. "Sorry," she said as I cleared off my desk. "I just get nervous talking to people in a crowd. I'm Alice Rousseau."

I nodded as I shook her hand. "Mona Deaden and it's okay. For a few seconds, I thought you were scared of me." I stretched, slowly coming out of character. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

She started to play with her hands. "Well I want to do an article on…"

I frowned when she fell silent. With little choice I tried to guess what she was thinking. "That challenge was just a moment of rashness that any of the boys can tell you I do often."

She shook her head. "No. Everyone knows about the challenge and Sean is favoured to win." Her voice wavered when I winced. Knowing you were going to fail was one thing but hearing it from someone else was far worse. "I wanted to interview you so that people could see… you."

I nodded. "I can't really see why anyone would want to see that."

Again she shook her head. "But you were brave enough to challenge the dean's son in front of the whole school. He's famous for never taking a bet unless he is sure he will win it."

Oh joy, I thought as I tried to figure out what Alice's angle was. "I think everyone I know will agree that was just stupid stubbornness."

"But you did it in costume!"

"Because I came straight from club. A club Sean actually quit which was why I was tracking him down."

Alice frowned. "Why?"

I opened my mouth to reply but then closed it. "Because I'm idiot."

"There were rumours that you were actually dating."

The desk nearly tipped over as I stood up. "Who said that?"

Alice tried to move her chair back but it got stuck on the floor. "We can't reveal our sources!"

Some small piece of sanity must have returned to my destroyed brain because I sat back down and sighed. I ran a hand through my hair and watched as it got stuck on some tangles. "Sorry. I'm just really stressed. Anime is sorta my life and I'm going to lose that if I don't pass."

Alice nodded as she took out a notebook. I started to grin insanely as I noticed it was the exact same as mine. "So you aren't dating?"

I shook my head. "No. Sean and I just put up with each other while he was in club."

"And those rumours about you being a one night stand?"

"With Sean! Hell no! I'd sleep with an Alpha first which I won't!"

Alice sighed as she put her notebook down. "So there isn't anything between you two?"

I shook my head. "Less than nothing. Sean thought I was an idiot. I think he is a jerk. Why?"

She leaned back in her chair a little. "I was hoping for a human interest piece."

I tilted my head. "Is this your first story?"

She nodded. "It was the only recent event I was interested in."

"Why?"

Her big brown eyes stared at me as I repeated my question. "Why was this interesting?"

She shrugged. "Well I thought you were really cool standing up to a stainless steel."

It was almost as if my ego was a bottomless pit of suffering. First I was called the school nut case, now this. "Well I'm sorry I wasn't much help but I really have to study. Big bet that I'm probably going to lose." I shrugged. "You know."

"Is that why you are still in a costume?"

I nodded. "Kagome is a determined student. I'm hoping she'll rub off on me."

Alice frowned. "Why aren't you dressed up as someone who gets good grades like… Tomoyo from Card Captors?"

I frowned. "Because the club rules are you dress up as someone who you act a little like but you watch anime?"

Alice nodded. "Mostly shoujo."

I stared and tried to think of some shoujo titles to test her. After the mess with June I wanted to be sure. "Sailor Moon?"

She nodded.

"Ranma ½?"

"Yup."

"Crazy Girl Shin Bia?"

"I just started reading it online."

"Fruit Baskets."

"Finished it last week."

"Kamisama Hajimemashita."

She nodded. "The fox is my favourite."

I nodded. "The little ghost people with masks were cool. Ever watch Dragon Ball Z?"

She shook her head. "No. What's that about?"

"It's only the best anime of all time!"

When Miroku and Umino had returned I had finished explaining the basic plot of Dragon Ball Z and we had started talking about random animes. It turned out Alice had watched Yugioh and knew all about Anzu and the horrors known as 4kids so we had a fun discussion about manga vs anime for a little while and then she told me about Inuyasha: Final Act.

I was shaking my head as the boys walked in. "I still can't believe that they actually listened to us fans and finished it."

Alice was nodding her head so hard that her hair was going everywhere. "My favourite part is where Sesshomaru saves Rin."

I waved my hands around. "Don't spoil it for me! I haven't read the manga yet! It's been on my to-do list for ages but then I joined this club and all my free time vanished."

Alice nodded, her eyes suddenly sparkling with an idea. "In this club you dress up as people you act like right?"

I nodded.

"Who did Sean Fujimoto cosplay as?"

I shrugged. "I only saw him as Kaiba. Although he probably has a special costume he never wore while I was around."

Miroku spoke up from his place at his desk. "He's special was Sanzu from Saiyuki, the journey to the extreme version."

I frowned. "That's ironic considering whenever someone left his group, Sanzu pretended not to care and he never left. Meanwhile Sean was always coming down hard on those who left and he finally left."

Alice's eyes started to sparkle more, reminding me greatly of Tomoyo. "Do you have any pictures?"

I shook my head, paused, and then said, "Well we do have a video—" The words had barely left my mouth when I felt Miroku clap his hand over my mouth.

"You'll have to forgive, Kagome," he said with a smile. "She's a bit tired from studying."

I rolled my eyes and waited for him to remove his hands before quickly saying, "We had a crossplay day and the boys forced Sean into a Kagura costume."

Alice's eyes were the size of dinner plates. "You put the dean's son in a dress?"

"Kimono but yes."

Behind me, Miroku was gripping my shoulder. "Kagome. Think carefully about what you are saying."

I shrugged him off. "Sean is letting rumours about me spread so why I can't I tell one person something that's true?"

"Because Sean will hire people to kill you if he finds out!"

I shrugged again. "That will spare me the trouble if I fail."

Miroku groaned and I started to laugh. Alice, however, frowned again. "You really seem close for schoolmates."

Miroku nodded. "Let's just say that when you join this club you learn to think of everyone as family. If not, you leave quickly."

"Why?"

I traded a glance with Miroku. "Let's just say bad things happen to people in this club. I've nearly been killed twice since I joined."

Alice's eyes grew again. "Then why do you stay? Why don't you quit?"

I shrugged. "Because I'm an anime addict I guess."

"And stubborn," Miroku added.

I elbowed him in the gut. "If I wasn't, Sean would have scared me out of the club a long time ago."

Alice frowned, "Instead you scared him?"

"He left of his own free will!" I replied.

Miroku nodded. "Sean had his share of near death experiences on behalf of the club."

I frowned. "He did?"

Umino suddenly appeared at Alice shoulder. "He was attacked by a thug four times, which is why he learned self-defence, and nearly hit by a car twice."

Alice's eyes were wide again. "Why do you people put up with that?"

Umino shrugged. "For the club I suppose. Everyone else is gone and if we didn't stay then everything here would go to waste."

Miroku nodded. "Plus if we didn't cosplay the school work would have turned us into robots like the school wanted."

Alice frowned and then said something that floored all of us. "Can I join?"

Tamaki didn't waste any time. "Miroku, questions. Kagome—"

I gave him a death glare as I held up my book.

"… You study. I'll go get the costumes!"

I couldn't help but laugh as the boys got into position. While I struggled to remember in which year Japan isolated itself from everyone but the Dutch, I watched as Miroku questioned Alice. As the boys had done with me, after questioning her Miroku handed her the Code of Anime Addicts before walking over to Tamaki and telling him what costumes may match.

Minutes later Miho AKA Ribbon from Yu-Gi-Oh! manga volume 1 had arrived in room 444. Off hand I wondered if we would soon have a smitten Honda joining the club as well. However, I had more important things to worry about so I returned to cramming as much information as I could into my head. I had to pass. I had to!

**A/N: Just a side note, Miho from the manga is greatly different from Miho from Yugioh Season 0. Firstly, she is not an airhead in the manga, she actually is very smart but shy. Secondly, she only appears in one chapter of the manga and does not join the gang on their adventures as shown in Season 0. Thirdly, Miho knows that Honda has a crush on her but she turns him down at the end of the chapter. That is all. Thanks for reading and reviewing.**

**-D101**


	9. The Time For Action

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 9  
**

_Failure. Ruin. Torture. Misery. Torment. Catastrophe. Damnation. All these things I faced as I wrote my mid-term. There was so much riding on this test. To any non-addict, it might seem silly, even pathetic but anime truly was my life. I had grown up with it on the TV. At every stage of life there was an anime guiding me. Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball Z, YuGiOh!, Inuyasha, Yu Yu Hakusho. Even in school anime was useful. It was thanks to fanfiction for animes that I learned proper grammar, spelling, and style. (Although my math teacher probably would have wanted me to learn outside his class.)_

_Anime was my life and if I failed, I would lose it._

_Again this might sound hopelessly pathetic but I dare anyone to try to give up their computer and cell phone for the rest of their lives. Then they'll know what I mean. Sure maybe they'd adapt and I probably will to if I fail but it will be a hard path and one that I really don't want to take. However, my test is done and my fate sealed. Now I just have to hope that I did it. That I somehow achieved a miracle._

_Everyone in the club has faith in me. Especially Alice who is now cosplaying as Tomoyo as well. Her article about our club and our dedication to it was well received by the student body and people I didn't even know were wishing me luck. A few mocked me for being so stupid but a lot of people were coming forward as closet anime/manga fans. We even had a few new members although they didn't always appear for meetings. Alice had saved the club and I hoped saved me._

_In a moment of what appeared to sleep-deprived insanity I suggested that I try studying the way Yusuke and Kuwabara did. By being quizzed in my sleep. Alice was game and thanks to her I knew basic kanji although I'm not sure how I learned since you can't tell someone how to draw. In the end I also accepted the boys' help and allowed them to quiz me. I did well in our mock-tests. But I needed to be prefect. I had to get 100% so I did all the bonuses in an attempt to get extra marks. That meant writing the test in Japanese but with basic kanji under my belt it wasn't too hard._

_But now the time has come and I'll know if I've passed the challenge and moment of stupidity… or failed and will regret it for the rest of my life._

I took the piece of paper with my mark on it and went to the club room. My hands were shaking and I was terrified of what I would see. Had I done? Or had I failed? The others were waiting in the club room but none of them were wearing costumes. Alice looked up with wide eyes as I entered the room. Andrew put down his book and Martin stopped pacing. They waited for me to tell them what I had gotten. My hands were shaking as I opened the folded paper. I searched for the mark. My eyes found it. Andrew took the piece of paper from me and shook his head. Alice gasped and Martin shook his head in defeat. I had 98%.

"So close, eh, Deaden?"

We all turned to see him standing in the doorway. My anger returned as did my loathing but I kept my mouth shut. I had lost. I would at least go out with dignity. After all, "boasting was the privilege of winners" and he had won. I couldn't stop the small growl come from my throat as he stepped into the room. In so little time he had changed. Not physically. The eyes were still the same as was the smirk but before he was tolerantably arrogant. Now I wanted to rip his throat out.

All the muscles in my back were rigid as I turned to my friends. This time I really was gone. I wasn't coming back. I bowed although I wanted nothing more than to kick the man behind me.

"Thank you for the fun," I said. "I'll bring the costumes and the rest of my collection over tonight."

I turned and started to walk towards the door but Sean was blocking my way. If he expected to see me cry, he was in for disappointment. I merely glared at him as he had glared at me so many times. His face didn't change from the smug smirk but he moved aside allowing me to leave. The desire to knock that smirk off his face was so strong it hurt but I stared ahead of me and walked. I was going home.

I was almost at the gates when a familiar face walked up to me. At least the costume was familiar even if I didn't recognize the face behind the navy blue mask. The black cape with the white cross had been a dead give away. She was smiling as she walked up to me.

"I figured that Kyle probably didn't thank you for giving us the tip," Huntress said. "So I decided to say thanks." Her smile grew. "Thanks."

I nodded as I tried to place her. "Sorry but who are you?"

"My name is Kayla."

My eyes widened as I remembered. I tried to smile her that I was happy for her but I only managed a grimace.

"So did you pass?" she asked.

I shook my head and she frowned.

"So you really are going to give it all up?"

"I made the bet. I'll keep it."

She frowned. "I haven't watched a lot of anime but don't they usually have a lot of rematches? Or is that just Inuyasha?"

My eyes widened. How had I not thought of that when I had made the bet with Sean who always cosplayed as the King of Rematches?

Kayla smiled again. "Got an idea?"

I smiled. "Maybe but I need a hand since I'm not allowed near the anime club anymore."

She smiled again. "What do you need?"

"A room, a checker board, and some cards."

"Casino?"

I smirked. "Of course." Then I frowned. "But Sean won't agree to a rematch with me."

Kayla smirked and truly resembled her character as she said, "You leave just the man to us. Be in room 130 at 6:00."

I nodded and continued on my way to my house. I still had a collection to drop off until further notice.

*A*M*R*

I arrived at 5:55 and was amused to see the girls and Kyle had everything ready. There was a table in the middle of the room under a light in typical detective interrogation style. The board sat on the table and the cards had been laid out and were ready to be dealt. I wasn't sure how to approach the whole thing but Kyle— I mean Question was helpful. He kept giving me tips to keep Sean on his toes. Although I felt jumping over the table and punching him was a bit much. Not that it wouldn't be fun.

Wonder, Hawks, and Huntress had gone to find Sean and I felt a little bad for him. If the girls were in character when they kidnapped him, he would be in for some trouble. Meanwhile, Bats and Sups were helping me out.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sups asked for the third time since I had entered the room.

I pulled my ponytail tight and smoothed out my dragon T-shirt I had worn for luck. "Not really but I don't have any other ideas and what's more fitting for risking my neck again than a game of cards?"

Bats frowned as she picked up the deck and played with it. "Why didn't you try Duel Monsters instead?"

"Can't go near anything anime and I'd get my butt kicked. I want to win. Not lose." My eyes widened and I smirked. "I think I just thought of the best way to knock him off his feet."

"So a plan B?"

I shook my head. "Plan A."

Bats sighed. "I hope you know what you are doing. If you lose this, you'll really have no way out."

I nodded. "I know but no one beats me in this game."

Sups frowned. "There's a first for everything."

Question nodded. "That's what they want you to think."

I laughed and sat down at the deck. Considering I was about to risk the last thing I had left that kept my insanity in check, I was surprisingly calm. I needed to keep my calm and not become blinded by anger and rush into things. Tonight I had to be Mona. Tonight I had to win. Tonight I would win and I would be sure to keep things in my favour.

The walkie-talkie Bats had on her belt beeped and she looked at me. I nodded and she put a hand on my shoulder. "Keep calm and don't let him rattle you," she said before leaving the room.

Sups gave me a hug. "Good luck."

Question nodded at me. "Remember, throw your weight into your punch, and aim for the nose."

I smiled but this time it was forced as they left. Now alone I knew the time for smiles and talk was over. Now was the time for action.

Sean entered the room with a look of disdain on his face. "Did you have a reason for calling me out like this?"

I nodded. "Since you cosplayed as Kaiba so much I'm sure you can guess what I'm up to."

"Rematch?"

I nodded. "I figured the person who wins two out of three games wins all."

"So you picked chess and card games?"

I shook my head and smiled. "Checkers and Give away."

"And you expect me to play you when you won't risk anything?"

"I'm a fan of American comics. If I lose, I'll give it up. If I win, I get anime back in my life."

He shook his head. "You're ruined without me taking away your comic books so I don't really have to bother with your little games."

I shrugged as I moved towards the desk. "Okay." I reached in and took out a small tape. "I guess this little baby will go to Youtube then."

His eyes narrowed. "If that is what I think it is…"

I nodded. "Oh it is so about those 'little games'?"

He gritted his teeth but sat down at the desk. I sat down on the other side. "So which game first?"

"Checkers."

I nodded and set out the game board. I was red. He was black. We started playing. I went first, making my move quickly. Sean made his move just as quickly. However, as the game wore on our moves slowed as we tried to think of ways to win. I eventually lost but I wasn't worried. The next game was something I was good at. Give Away passed as quickly as Checkers but I was the victor. It was a risk that I had taken. Sean would probably only win one of the games with the board since he probably wouldn't be able to wrap his mind around the idea of giving up his pieces. It was a risk that had worked. But now came the scary part. The card game.

Sean shuffled the deck and placed it on the table.

"So what game?"

I shrugged, trying to appear confident. "You pick."

He shook his head. "Your show."

"21 until the deck is gone."

He nodded and dealt.

The game went quickly and despite how things looked in the beginning, we were tied when it came down to the last game. Kaiba tossed me an ace and an six. I had 17 but I could try for more. I hesitated and decided against getting more cards. Kaiba revealed his hand. He had a ten and a one. He gave himself another card. It was a six. He could have left it like that and won but he decided to try for 21. He added the final card in the deck to his hand. It was a jack. He had lost.

The members of the comic club and anime club rushed in. Apparently they had been watching through the window. Alice and the girls forced me into a group hug while the boys smiled and I left out a sigh. It was over. I had won. I frowned. And to think I could have avoided the whole thing if I had just remembered the video sooner. Oh well. Live and learn and with my anime back I was going to live. Well as well much as an anime addict can.

**A/N: Okay I know this was supposed to be an anime/manga revolution but I've been a Batman fan as long as I've been an anime fan so I couldn't leave the comics out… And I was watching lots of DC videos. Let's just say that anime/manga started it and then the comics came and helped out so please don't kill me for the overload of DC in this chapter. It's over now. Okay? Thanks for reading and reviewing.  
****-D101**

**P.S Also this is the second last chapter for the story. Yeah I know. Short. Let's remember it was based off a dream.  
****-d101**


	10. Togsuki!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the multiple animes or mangas or comics in this story. Thank you.

* * *

**The Anime/Manga Revolution  
****Chapter 10**

_Relief. It is possibly the best feeling in the word. The knowledge that something has worked out just as you planned. Nothing is sweeter than that. Since I was back in the swing of things with anime things had really turned for the better. We were getting more and more fulltime members and Alice and I were learning the ropes so that when Andrew was gone we would be able to help Martin. The comic club is also doing well as more members are joining. We even had to work out a schedule for meetings since we had some members who were in both clubs. However, Andrew has cautioned us to keep our eyes open. After all, the dean wasn't happy with our clubs success and student council was bound to put a stopper on us sooner or later. So far they haven't but I have a feeling things are going to change. The Alphas are still on the prowl but more importantly I spotted Sean hanging around room 444._

A noise caused me to look up from my notebook and I noticed two men standing under my tree. Unsure if they were friendly or not, I kept silent and prayed that they wouldn't look up. Of course I had to be stuck up a tree with a skirt on when two boys were standing underneath. Then I realized both boys had brown hair.

"This had better be important," the first boy said.

The other nodded. "You'll be able to go back to your meeting soon enough. I'm just curious. You let Mona win didn't you?"

What little of me wasn't frozen from fear of being noticed froze then as I realized that Andrew and Sean were underneath me.

I couldn't see their expressions but I was willing to bet money Sean was frowning. Of course he was always frowning so that wasn't surprising. "What would give you that idea?"

"Just a hunch. You always were a big softie."

"Is that all or is there more you want to talk about?"

Andrew shook his head. "Actually there is one other thing I wanted to know, student council is trying to close us down, aren't they? Any idea how they will try it?"

"They won't."

"Is that a nice way of telling me you can't tell me?"

Sean shook his head. "They won't bother with the clubs. There'll be too much bad press."

"So then you won't need to stay on the council and act as a shield."

"I already explained it to Mona and I hope you are smart enough to figure out why. I'm not rejoining the club besides if the council gets out of line I'll be able to throw a little weight around."

Andrew chuckled. "Somehow I figured you would say that. Although it would be nice if you had explained to Martin and Mona your true reasons for leaving. Martin keeps thinking that the council is holding something over your head."

"As long as he doesn't do anything stupid, it's not my problem."

"Yes. Challenging you in front of the whole school because he doesn't know what's going on truly would be stupid, wouldn't it?"

Sean became rigid and Andrew laughed. "Relax. Mona's adjusted and with no lasting damage."

"It was only a day. If she had any damage then she really needs to lay off the anime."

Andrew chuckled again. "I suppose you are right but it wouldn't hurt for you to drop by and just check in every so often."

"I'm busy, Andrew."

Andrew nodded. "Alright. I guess I'll just need to find some place to place that special video so that nothing happens to it. Any ideas?"

Sean paused and then said, "I'm going to kill you one day."

Andrew must have been grinning because he replied, "Of course, Sanzu."

Sean shook his head and walked off towards the school. Andrew left soon after and I was left in the tree, completely confused as usual. With a small smile I turned back to my notebook and made a new entry.

_Life. A rollercoaster of conflict and emotions. The ups and downs of events. The act of being. Life. It can be boring, amusing, scary, and confusing. But if life didn't have little twists and turns it wouldn't be half as amusing. However, next meeting I am totally going to ask Andrew what else is being hidden from Martin and me since we weren't told about Sean being a double agent for our favour. I'm probably not going to get an answer but it will at least give me something to do until I figure out how to get Sean to rejoin the club officially without using the video. After all, I vowed to get him to rejoin and I have two years to do it. So watch out, Sean. Togsuki!_

*A*M*R*

"Amelia, we're here."

I frowned as I looked up at the tower glass structure that was the main building of Hearth University. "What would happen if I didn't get out of the car when we stop?"

My dad, who was driving, glared at me through the rear view mirror. "Nothing because that won't be happening."

The car pulled to the stop at the front gates, and my dad unlocked the doors. My mother meanwhile looked up at the school with wide eyes. "They changed the buildings! They can't do that! The stone pillars were the only way to hide from the Alphas!"

I couldn't help but laugh. That was my mom. Completely stuck in the past. Sometimes I wondered how she had married my dad when they seemed like polar opposites. He focused on the future. She lived in the past. He was a lawyer. She was an author. He liked blue. She liked red. He was blunt and hard. She was blunt and soft. Opposites… sorta.

As I got out of the car, she passed me my briefcase through the window of the car. "We'll drop by later to make sure you're not rooming with a psycho," she said and I nodded.

The car pulled away from the curve and I waved until it disappeared into traffic. I was alone and it was time to take a step into my new life. Alone. Taking a deep breath I walked towards the gates.

Only a few steps into the property a group of upperclassmen were standing. One had what must have been heavily gelled black hair and was wearing a green jumpsuit. Another was wearing a red spandex suit with a yellow lightning bolt on it. The last was wearing an orange gi over a blue t-shirt with black hair that reached for the sky.

I held my briefcase against my chest as I started to walk towards them. I would have walked right by the boys if I hadn't been told by the my registration officer that a student would help me settle in since my own mother and father had abandoned me to adapt to Hearth on my own. The description I had been given didn't match any of the boys standing there but they might know where I could find the student since he obviously had forgotten.

"Excuse me," I said in my best 'I'm a poor helpless girl, please help me' voice. "Could one of you help me? My name is Amelia. I'm new here."

The boys paused in their discussion to stare at me. A second passed and the boy in orange smiled. I liked him already, I decided.

"Sure," he said. "I'm Gohan and this is Yusuke and the Flash." He pointed to the green and red boy respectively.

The man in red spandex (Flash) put his arm on my shoulder. "Fastest man alive at your service, pretty lady."

I nodded and smiled. "Someone by the name of Luke Capitani was supposed to show me around and show me my dorm room."

The one in green (Yusuke) made a very amusing "Eep!" noise that left me with no doubts that he was Luke. Without even looking at me he said, "Say Gohan. You know this school better than anyone. How about you show this chick around while I go… to Demon World and save the world again?"

Gohan frowned. "But Yusu—"

He patted Gohan on the shoulder. "Thanks. Bye!" Before any of us could blink he had started running for the main building.

Flash spotted my amused grin and winked before saying, "I'm sure Luke will show up. Until then," he started running after Yusuke, "have fun with Gohan!"

Both boys paused on the steps of the building to see if Gohan would actually show me around. After staring at them for a few seconds, he sighed and turned to me. "Welcome to Hearth University, where the best are trained to be better at everything including self-expression." He crossed his eyes at the end of his speech.

It sounded so rehearsed that I couldn't help but laugh. Thankfully Gohan was laughing too. "Thanks," I replied. "I think I'll like it here."

With a super sweet smile Gohan offered his arm to me and I took it. At once he started to explain about Hearth. He told me which rooms to avoid and how the clubs worked. Apparently things had changed since my parents went to Hearth. The anime club had spread so that it had split into good guys and bad guys who regularly battled on the sport fields with water balloons. An American cartoon club had also started up and split into three groups. Superheroes, super-villains, and non-super cartoons. Like the anime club, the supers battled and sometimes even joined the sides of the animes. That would explain Flash, Yusuke, and Gohan talking, I thought.

As we walked by the front steps, I heard Flash ask, "So do you think she's an anime or a super?"

I saw Yusuke grin out of the corner of my eye. "She's obviously an anime. Look how Gohan actually agreed to lead her around. She's no Videl but he doesn't care."

"But look at that muscle. She's totally a super."

"What muscle? All I see is chicken legs."

Gohan tossed a glare over his shoulder showing that he had heard his friends. "Sorry about them they're a little…"

I grinned. "It's okay. I've read the manga."

He smiled back and as we continued on the tour I knew that I was going to love it at Hearth University and I was, without a doubt, an anime. After all, like mother, like daughter. Togsuki!

**A/N: And so it's over. Hope you enjoyed the story. I liked it a lot and am surprisingly happy with how this turned out considering how it was created by a dream. Thanks for reading and now I have to return to my KuramaXOC series.**

**See ya!**

**-D101**


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